I’m at the 4 week mark and thats a good time to review my progress on my goals for the year I think.

Still in progress for #1, this will be a long haul, but I’m doing the things I need too to make this a reality.
#2 is still lagging, I’m hoping that all the GTD stuff will free up my mind, although I do think that a video camera, some storm trooper helmets and a few friends would be a step in the right direction.
#3 is moving forward, although I am still smoking, I have cut back on my caffeine intake and started to eat better.
#4 was lagging until about a week ago, and I’m happy to report that I’ve hit this mark the past 7 days straight.
#5 started slower then I wanted it too, but I have been practicing.
#6 is an ongoing process, but the autotest was a step in the right direction.
#7 still an unknown.
#8 this is lagging, I haven’t managed to meet up with my group the past two weeks. I’m sure there is a good reason for this though.
#9 is mostly on-track, although I have been lagging in getting them up and my average word count is around 250, this should change now though (with he aid of GTD).
#10 is in a holding pattern, I inquired and now I’m waiting on someone to get back to me with prices.
#11 always needs more attention, but I feel pretty good.
#12 is lagging, if you have some work for me let me know
#13 is looking like a ‘careful what you wish for’ goal, to be debt free, all of your debts come crawling out of the wood work, (so it feels like I’m moving in reverse).

I opted to just update by number this time, so that I’m not giving myself a false sense of word count. Feel free to check a previous Back on Track Experiment post if you can’t recall what the goals for the year were.

So I nabbed a copy of David Allen’s book, and Audio Set, I swapped out my normal nighttime audio to the Getting Things Done Fast seminar. So far, so good. I also actually fired up my OmniFocus because although I have had it for a while I never actually bothered looking at it too closely. The site has a few short video tutorials that got me moving pretty quick, although I still have this nagging feeling that something is missing from my understanding…

The premise to GTD is pretty simple, Collect your ‘stuff’ (write it down / get it out of your head), Process your stuff into actionable, not actionable, Organize your stuff into projects (anything thats more then a single actionable item), and assign a context to them (where you physically have to be to perform the actionable step). This in itself will reduce the clutter in your brain, all that pointless thinking…

David says that the things your thinking about that cause you distraction are there not because they are unfinished, but because you either don’t know what finished looks like for them, and/or you haven’t determined the next step to move them forward, and/or you have not placed a reminder to do the next action step in a place that your mind believes will help you get it done. So you think about it.

There are some interesting parallels between what David Allen is saying about thoughts and the mind and how Eckhart Tolle expresses the thinking self in ‘The Power of Now’. They are both quite correct in their understanding that NOW is the only time, so I’m having a good time so far listening to David and pounding out lists of things that I need to get done. OmniFocus looks like it was designed specifically for the GTD principals, and meshes perfectly with what David is saying.

I’ll update this line of thinking from time to time, but I highly encourage you to check out GTD. (Thanks Craig for reminding me to look at the resources I have, its been a godsend) … After all, nobody is going to manage my life but me.

Yesterday, Craig asked me if I had any good resources for GTD (Getting Things Done)… Because I’m a LifeHacker whore, naturally I did, so I pointed him towards David Allen’s Site, and the 43 Folders Site…

But that got me thinking… Why am I not utilizing my GTD knowledge to help ME get things done?

That said … off I go on a distraction/rampage that hopefully will help me get things organized and done

Some links to get you started if your interested in the GTD philosophy.

David Allen’s Site (http://www.davidco.com/)
43 Folders (http://www.43folders.com/)
LifeHacker (more of a distraction then a strict GTD site, but a GREAT distraction full of usefulness) … (http://lifehacker.com/)
OmniFocus (if your looking for a good commercial GTD app) … (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/)

I have read a fair amount of GTD stuff in the past, but in all honesty i have NEVER really implemented it.
I guess I should take a few deep breaths and plunge in… back to student mode while I re-learn my habits to get things done.

If life never hands you anything that your not capable of handling, I would like to thank the universe for having so much faith in my abilities.

Some things REALLY get under my skin, incompetence is one of those things. But I don’t want to rant, I want to maintain a positive mental attitude… Thats where the topic of todays post comes from… It’s a constant effort to maintain a positive mental attitude, but I think that the effort is worth well more then itself in returns of being able to see the positives that could come from an otherwise bleak situation.

So how do you maintain a positive mental attitude? I think that the first key to being able to maintain a positive mental attitude is to understand that you are in charge of your thoughts. Let that sink in for a moment or two…

So seeing that *I* am responsible (in charge) of my thoughts, that means that I can think whatever I want to think, and it’s totally my choice. I can choose to think how great it would be if a face stabbing device popped out of the steering wheel of that driver who just cut me off, killing them and getting them off of my planet and more importantly off of my road while I’m driving. OR, I can take a deep breath and turn my frustration of being cut off into gratefulness that I have a car and the ability to be cut off. My choice. One choice, leads to a mental positive attitude, the other … not so much.

The point is that, it IS a constant effort, in todays fast paced world of instant gratification, big screen media, and video games like Grand Theft Auto its not even a wonder that it takes so much effort to think positively, I know that for me, this is why i do not watch TV or the news, the vast majority of it is far to negative for me, and I know that the important news will still get to me through the people I know.

I will re-visit this topic again and again, as it’s a lifetime goal and desire (to maintain a positive mental attitude), so I have a lot to ramble about.

Have an uber awesome day!!!

I’m an advocate of constant self improvement… I have always believed that it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you deal with it, and I have never really fallen into the grouping of circumstance (well lets be honest here, I don’t really fall into any grouping except my own, but I digress..).

There is a wonderful woman out there to thank for the solidification of this basic principal, someone that I am very grateful to have had the privlidge of working with, te tragic part to this, is that she doesn’t even know how much of a positive impact she (and this principal) has had on my life. Yvonne Donelly was my Director and Mentor while I was the programming instructor and head of the programming faculty for CDI College of Business and Technology. She gave me this little gold card that had several motivational quotes on it… I used to carry in my wallet, I in turn passed it along to someone else that I thought at the time would benefit from it’s message.

It went something like this … “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” … Lou Holtz – “Its not that the circumstances have gotten you where you are, the successful people will figure out what circumstances they work best with, and then go out to create them.” – Unknown

I wanted to post a thank you to Yvonne… Wherever you are, may the sun be shining on your world.

In keeping with my goals, I picked ‘i could have lied’ for a new song to learn this month…

Below is the tablature incase you care to pick it up yourself…

- I Could Have Lied – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Intro (0:00)
e||——————————–|———————————–|
B||——————————–|———————————–|
G||——————————–|———————————–|
D||—-0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0—-|—–0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0——|
A||-0h2–2–2–2–2–2————-|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2—————-|
E||———————5—2—3–|———————-5—2—3—-|

Verso 1 (0:14)
e|——————————–|————————————|
B|——————————–|————————————|
G|——————————–|————————————|
D|—-0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0—-|—–0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0——-|
A|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2————-|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2—————–|
E|———————5—2—3–|———————-5—2—3—–|
There must be something… feel

e|——————————–|————————————|
B|————–2h3p2————-|————————————|
G|——————————–|————————————|
D|—-0–4–0–4—–4/7-5-4-0—-|—–0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0——-|
A|-0h2–2–2–2——————-|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2—————–|
E|———————5—2—3–|———————-5—2—3—–|
Stare she bares… bleed

Pre-Chorus (0:42)

B D
I could never change Just what I feel

A9 G7
My face will never show What is not real

(0:48)
e|——————————–|————————————|
B|————–2h3p2–(6r5)——|————————————|
G|——————————–|————————————|
D|—-0–4–0–4—–4/7-5-4-0—-|—–0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0——-|
A|-0h2–2–2–2——————-|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2—————–|
E|———————5—2—3–|———————-5—2—3—–|

Verso 2 (1:03)
e|——————————–|————————————|
B|——————————–|————————————|
G|——————————–|————————–(2/4)—–|
D|—-0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0—-|—–0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0——-|
A|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2————-|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2—————–|
E|———————5—2—3–|———————-5——-3—–|
A mountain never seems… seek

e|——————————–|————————————|
B|—————————-0—|————————————|
G|——————————–|————————————|
D|—-0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4——|—–0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0——-|
A|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2————-|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2—————–|
E|———————5—2——|———————-5—2———|
The sweetest feeling… true

Pre-Chorus (1:30)

B D
I could never change Just what I feel

A9 G7
My face will never show What is not real

(1:37)
e|————————————–|
B|————————————–|
G|————————————–|
D|—–0—4—0—4—0—4/7-5\4-0—-|
A|-0h2—2—2—2—2—2————–|
E|—————————5—2—3–|

refrão (1:44)

Em G
I could have lied I’m such a fool

D C
My eyes could never never never, Keep their cool

Em G
Showed her and I told her how

D C
She struck me but I’m fucked up now

Solo 1:(1:58) – a base faz o pré-chorus .
e|———————————————————————–|
B|———————————————————————–|
G|————————————–11–11–11-11-9-11–11-9-11——|
D|————7-9/11-11\9——–9-9/12———————————-|
A|——–7/9————-10–10—————————————–|
E|-7–10—————————————————————–|

e|———————————————————————–|
B|-/10–8—————————————12—-/10-12-10———-|
G|——–11–7–7-9-7-9—/11-11-/11-11-/11-11—-11———–11-12p11-|
D|———————-(9)———————————————-|
A|———————————————————————–|
E|———————————————————————–|

e|———————————————————————–|
B|———————————————————————–|
G|-11h12p11-9-11———–12-11-11h12p11———–11——————-|
D|—————9-7-9-9-9—————-12-9-9-12—-12-9-/9-9-7-9-/4–|
A|———————————————————————–|
E|———————————————————————–|

repete a introdução na guitarra base enquanto o solo é feito:
e—————————12-/14–/17\15\14-10————————-|
B|———————12———————-10\—————–/7-/7-|
G|—————-9/12—————————-/(9)\7-(7)-7-9-7——-|
D|-/5–5/9–9/12———————————————————|
A|———————————————————————–|
E|———————————————————————–|

e|———————–|
B|———————–|
G|-2-2-2/4—————|
D|———-4/5\4-2p0—-|
A|———————4-|
E|———————–|

Verso 3 (2:39)
e|——————————–|————————————|
B|——————————–|————————————|
G|——————————–|————————————|
D|—-0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0—-|—–0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0——-|
A|—2–2–2–2–2–2————-|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2—————–|
E|———————5—2—3–|———————-5—2—3—–|
But now she’s gone… stay

e|——————————–|————————————|
B|————–2h3p2———(2h3p2)———————————-|
G|——————————–|————————————|
D|—-0–4–0–4—–4/7-5-4-0—-|—–0–4–0–4–0–4/7-5-4-0——-|
A|-0h2–2–2–2——————-|-0h2–2–2–2–2–2—————–|
E|———————5—2—3–|———————-5—2—3—–|
You see she hides… spared

refrão (3:06)

Em G
I could have lied I’m such a fool

D C
My eyes could never never never, Keep their cool

Em G
Showed her and I told her how

D C
She struck me but I’m fucked up now

refrão (3:20) – com o solo em cima.
e|-12————10/12—————————————|
B|—12-10/12-12——-12-10-8-10-8-10/12-10/12–10–8–8-10-|
G|———————————————————–|
D|———————————————————–|
A|———————————————————–|
E|———————————————————–|
I could have lied…

e|——————————-|————————-5/7-10-7-10-|
B|-8-10-8——8h10p8————|–8-10-12 10h12p10——8————|
G|——–9(9)——–7-9-7-9-/9-|——————-12-9————–|
D|——————————-|————————————-|
A|——————————-|————————————-|
E|——————————-|————————————-|
I showed her…

solo 2: (3:33) – .
e|-7—7p5—/7-/7\5—————————————————|
B|———8——–(7)-10p8 /10\8————————————-|
G|———————————–11h12p11-h12b13r\11—-\4-7-4-4—|
D|———————————————————————|
A|———————————————————————|
E|———————————————————————|

e|————————————————||
B|————————————————||
G|————–7————————-/9-9-9–||
D|——7-(7)/9—9\7-5-7-5-7-5-/4\2—2-2——–||
A|-7-10——————————————-||
E|————————————————||

a segunda guitarra faz os acordes várias vezes do refrão:
Em G
E|-7—–7—–10——-10——-10——-10\|
B|—8—–8——12——-12——-12——-|
G|—–9—–9——-12——-12——-12—-|
A|——————————————-|
B|——————————————-|
E|——————————————-|
E termina com mi menor
D C Em
E|-5—–5—–3—–3—–3—–| |-7-|
B|—7—–7—–5—–5—–5—| |-8-|
G|—–7—–7—–5—–5—–5-| |-9-|
D|——————————-| |-9-|
A|——————————-| |-7-|
E|——————————-| |—|

Notas raras:

A9 x02200
G7 xx5400