The 2017 100

Last updated on April 1st, 2021 at 01:08 am

Unless my life sees some major changes this year, 2017 may mark the last list of 100!

It’s January 13th—I’ve spent nearly two weeks of my new year agonising over 100 items that matter enough to hit a list of goals and aspirations for the year ahead. And that’s a key difference from the lists that came before it.

Before it was a task list—I’d look around at everything that needed doing and jot it down, because my life would obviously be better with them out of the way.

But task lists aren’t inspiring. They’re not motivational. As a creative, that’s like dropping a pile of 100 things I dread on my lap and nagging myself to get ’em done by the year’s end.

Once I realised what I was doing to myself, so much so that I just went through my least successful year yet for my list, I knew I needed to make a change for 2017.

The 2017 100—It's Not WHAT You Do, It's How You DO It.—New Year, New Perspective

I’m particularly proud of the list I’ve put together for The 2017 100. I didn’t take any shortcuts—I wrote out 100 things that’d help me live the life I’d like to lead and prove instrumental along the path there. Rather than hurriedly scrawl out a list I’d likely ignore ’til December, I wrote one that I’d happily check off, knowing that each accomplishment would take me a step closer to a far better 2018. I feel like I’m finally getting it right this time, and I hope that shines through as you give it a look for yourself!

But that’s enough of my chatter—I’ve already made you wait long enough. Here for your consideration is The 2017 100—because it’s not what you do… it’s how you do it!

Dreams Can Only Take You So Far

Last updated on April 4th, 2021 at 01:38 am

Life is a lot like the old folk tale of the Little Red Hen. To paraphrase for those unfamiliar with the tale, the plot follows a hen who finds a grain of wheat and (SPOILERS!) over time cultivates it into a loaf of bread through harvesting the grain, threshing it, milling it into flour and baking it. Through the story, she asks other animals for help, but met with a smug “Not I” every time. When the bread’s baked and she asks who’d like to help eat it, the same animals eagerly volunteer—but by then it’s too late; since none of them worked to create the bread, none of them get to partake of it, either.

Sadly, the same applies to our ideas — no matter how amazing they seem in your head, unless you make them tangible, you’ll find it really hard to get others to believe in you.

Don’t tell me what I can’t do.

They tried to tell me I wouldn't make it up a mountain. So I said, "Shut up, mountain," and climbed it.

“Can’t” is a word I’ve heard often in my life.

“You can’t do that — you need to focus on your studies so you can become successful!”
“You can’t write on that — it’s too risky! No one will care!”
“You can’t chase your dreams — it’s time to grow up!”

Though my current situation makes me immensely glad I never threw the towel in on the #BloggerLife and kept pushing forward, there were plenty of times I nearly listened to the people who didn’t see my vision.

All Right, STOP. Collaborate and LISTEN.

Last updated on March 17th, 2021 at 10:57 pm

If you read my last post you’ll know that I’m at a crossroads with the blog, feeling like I’m going in circles when I try to produce amazing content. It’s not for a lack of ideas—my desk is like a mad scientist’s secret lab, with me tinkering about to perfectly combine these notes, scribbles and sketches into things the world’s never seen. No, rather one can have too many ideas, and what happens when you try to tackle them all at once and not having some patience and conquering it all naturally with a well-thought plan.

These are the musings of a man crawling from under the weight of a million ideas, trying to find the one that’ll buy him the time to handle all the others.

Ideas Unrealized: Baby Steps

Last updated on April 4th, 2021 at 09:16 pm

So I wonder how many of you are actually seeing my posts, since I tend to post them pretty late into the night (11 PM-midnight EST or so)? I should try an experiment of having my posts go up at different times in the day to see what happens. Maybe my posts will get lost in the shuffle of the hustle and bustle during the daytime. Maybe it’ll reach out to even MORE people who just didn’t know it existed! Won’t know until I try, right?

Now I know I said a thing or two about Ideas Unrealized before, but then it was an abstract thought that had flitted through my brain without really sticking. But now that Kevin’s inadvertently gotten me into the practice of wireframing for my upcoming websites, all those ideas are starting to come back to the surface.
Which is a good thing. I mean, let’s take a look at the pile of crap that I’ve had lingering around since the dawn of time:

See, it’s great to have an idea, but if you’re not arming yourself with the tools to make them a reality, you’re not doing yourself any good. I’d drop a ton of links on you about all the sites I’ve been checking out lately, but let me just tell you about some of the books I’ve been reading to give you an idea of the direction in which I’m headed:

Amongst others which I’ll mention later. Mashable’s also been a great resource for learning a lot about doing business in the digital frontier.

But yes, I promise that some fruits of my labours will be shown soon.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have toast to eat and a shower to take. Hope you’re having a great one out there, Internetland!

Later,

The second logo for Casey Palmer, Canadian Dad

13/365

Design. It ain’t only for the Web!

Last updated on April 6th, 2021 at 02:06 pm

Good evening, world! Hope you had an above-average day at the LEAST!

Oh man, I can’t believe I didn’t post about this earlier! It pretty much stems DIRECTLY from something I’d been looking at doing for the 2010 20K, but never ended up making time for it—T-SHIRT DESIGNS.

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