The Journal of Spartan_Warrior

[Spartan_Warrior]

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[IlliniDave]

I'll second a little of what jennypenny is saying. I don't know all the backstory here, but one of the little "hacks" I've applied to life is keeping my occupation in context and not letting it be a drain on everything else. It's the thing I do to make money, but I don't define myself by my occupation. It's a job, not a vocation. I don't dislike it, but during those times it proves trying, I just remind myself that if the expectation is that being at work as supposed to be fun, I'd be paying for a ticket on the way in rather than them handing me money on the way out.

From the writing perspective, getting up early and at least getting something down before you do anything else can be pretty effective. If you're writing fiction (sounds like you are) then it's possible your subconscious senses a problem with your story, and is using all the external distractions as a way to avoid dealing with it. The trick sometimes is making sure all your characters are actively pursuing what they want/need (desperately so) in the face of strong obstacles. If part of that simple checklist is missing then there can be a lack of energy to the project which can cause it (and you) to stall. Always best to look internally for the cause of problems first. But the main thing is to just keep at it and get something down "on the page" every day. Perseverence is your biggest ally.

[Spartan_Warrior]

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[Spartan_Warrior]

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[jacob]

From talking to several different authors, the amazon review/purchase ratio is about 1%, so that's about what you should expect the "natural rate" to be. You'll probably have more success with blog reviews, if you can find some author-bloggers willing to post a review on their blog in exchange for a book. Goodsreads ppl also tend to do a lot of reviews, but unfortunately (for the authors) they do it on goodreads and not on amazon.

[henrik]

Aren't you overthinking this a little? By your description it looks like you're in a demeaning, shitty, boring job (your own words) with nothing to do. If you still need a job, try and look for one with something to do, something to learn and a humane environment.

For what it's worth, my own experience tells me that I get bored when I become competent at a job, i.e. when there's nothing left to learn. Several times my solution has been to look for something related to what I've done before, but different enough to effectively make me a newbie. Such a switch often (but not always) comes with a smaller salary, of course. Never regretted it, and never expected the new thing to be the thing to last forever:)

Edit: I somehow missed there was a whole other page of new posts, I was replying to the job related talk on the previous page..

[Spartan_Warrior]

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[Chad]

It seems like you have a lot of life variables up in air, with very little care about which way they go. This happens to me sometimes. I end up being pissed that I didn't make everything work out perfectly and then don't make any decision, because it seems like I failed at everything. For instance, your house. Sure you won't necessarily be up on the house, but it doesn't sound like you would be down much either (you probably got some of that $19k back in taxes?). Not everything can or does work out perfectly. I know you know this, as you are a smart guy, but some times we forget...I know I do.

Concerning your writing you should probably take JA Konrath's advice...just keep writing and put out as much as you can. The more you have out there the greater the chance that you will get "lucky" and I think you can write well enough to get "lucky." I thought your first book was quite solid. All you need is one book to do well and it will feed the rest.

[sshawnn]

Ha! Nice touch. $6.66 for a Spoiled Lunch It's in the cart. Do you get less $ when I use my Discover reward points?

[Spartan_Warrior]

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[Spartan_Warrior]

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[Chad]

It sounds like a great plan! (changed this because it wasn't as positive as I intended) The difficulty will be in making it a habit.

Sacrifice is a trade--giving up one thing to obtain something else. That's not what ERE is about. It's not about giving up years of your life so that the future will (miraculously) be "better". It's about arranging your life to bring you the most value, right here and now. (At least, that's what it is to me now.)

I think this is key. Everyone loses sight of this including us. Sometimes I think those of us on here focus too much on what percent or how much others on here are saving. It doesn't matter. We all have different goals, ambitions, levels of income, etc. The goal should be happiness and value, which may or may not mean ERE in the "traditional" way.

[Dragline]

That's what I call taking the bull by the horns. Good for you, sw!

A tip on the reading -- start with short books or groups of essays. Easier to get the mojo working that way. And see if you can pack your book or reader wherever you go. I get lots of reading done while waiting for something, someone or riding in a vehicle.

[Seneca]

Great posts guys.

I have been with the same company a long time. The only reason I have is every time I've been ready to quit, I've decided I'd better look hard in the mirror. Never have I liked what I saw. I've been through it a few times and it is usually is followed by almost manic bursts of great reading/creativity/productivity.

In another recent thread the idea of software engineers retiring to Mexican fishing villages came up. He didn't necessarily mean this literally so I didn't comment, but I think most highly motivated INTJ/ENTJ types would get real tired of this once they detoxed from whatever it was that drove them to "quit". In 4HWW Tim Ferriss talks about highly internally motivated people would get to the point they'd want to poke themselves in the eye with bicycle spokes rather than sit around...an enduring image!

I sure am not here or working toward FI to say FTW and live in a Corona commercial.

[Ego]

I think I need to take up some form of meditation as well.

You may have seen this. It is a good place to start.

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/mind ... meditation

There are two broad categories of meditative practices, those designed to calm the mind (for example the chanting of mantras) and those that turn the attention back inward (introspection). The introspective practices are the most useful IMO.

[Spartan_Warrior]

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[IlliniDave]

That's a very difficult recognition you have made, and even a tougher thing to admit "publicly". It's a great first step. While maybe not for everyone, it might be worth checking out The Power of Now by Echkart Tolle. If you're interested in finding out what he's about before buying the book, just look him up on Youtube. There are videos of a number of his talks on there. A number of years back I realized that happiness/contentment is something that originates within us and flows outward, and that it's not something we can acquire outside ourselves and bring in. Once I understood that well enough to put into words, I pretty much never looked back. That doesn't mean the road is uniformly smooth and easy, it can be difficult, but at least there is a known direction to move. Congrats and good luck!

[henrik]

I get lots of reading done while waiting for something, someone or riding in a vehicle.

This.. I once estimated my reading levels in terms of books/week dropped about *five times* when I changed jobs and didn't have to fly for work any more, even though the new job was much less stressful and time consuming.

S_W, way to get the pressure off and gain some perspective! Don't worry about the journal, it's a journal-- it's supposed to reflect what's going on:)

[jezter6]

Man. That long post about just generally being unhappy resonated hard with me. I don't like my job, but I do work from home 5 days a week, which should be good...but with the wife and kid around, sometimes I feel like I'm being a bad employee for going down and playing with my son and changing diapers and putting him down for a nap. When in reality, I spend more than half my day on the internet reading forums and such and not actually doing a whole lot of work. And I get paid fair to do it.

I need to get on that same attitude self improvement stuff too. Part of the reason I don't think I've made any headway in really ramping up any sort of savings is the depression.

Your post helped open my eyes a little. Thank you.

[Spartan_Warrior]

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