
Even if you are constantly “taking one for the team,” don’t be surprised when the team doesn’t take one for you.
A digital commonplace for a Regular Guy called Charlie Pharis

Even if you are constantly “taking one for the team,” don’t be surprised when the team doesn’t take one for you.
The unexamined life is not worth living, but the over-analyzed life leaves no time for living.
John Tewell via Compfight
Well, I can mark “being admitted into the hospital” and “surgery” off my bucket list.
This week, for the first time in 52+ years of hanging around this planet I did both. Spent five days there. Admitted through the ER Monday for pancreatitis. Scope procedure, MRI, and other fun party games Tuesday. Gall bladder removal Thursday. Home Friday afternoon. Whew!

Image via http://netminds.com/blog/guy-kawasaki-on-self-publishing-giving-credit-and-cheating
I followed Guy Kawasaki’s Twitter feed yesterday as he gave some practical tips for getting your writing done and getting your writing published. He knows a thing or two about both aspects.
As both of you loyal readers of this space have noticed (repeatedly, I’m afraid!) I always say I want to write. Yet, as you’ve also undoubtedly noticed, not much happens in that direction.
Here are Guy’s tips (with my related thoughts):
Obviously, Guy Kawasaki knows what he’s talking about. My challenge – and yours – is to glean what we can, get busy finding our own voice, and let it be heard.
Thomas Hawk via Compfight
Mark Twain reportedly said, “Write what you know.”
Others have echoed that sentiment, and others have dismissed it.
My favorite quote on the subject came from an interview with Georgia physician-author, Ferrol Sams, who repeated his college writing professor’s adage: βDonβt write a story about the streets of Paris if you’ve never been out of Valdosta.β
Writers, it is said, are defined by one thing: whether they write. I want to write, always have.
Started a few times, got discouraged or afraid of how others would respond, quit.
Had a pity party. Claimed I really wanted to write, but just didn’t have anything to write about that anyone else would want to read. Rationalized that I don’t know enough about anything to write coherently.
Whined. In blog posts. Promised to do better.
Encouraged others to write. Acted like I knew how to encourage others to write.And on and on.
Finally, I have come to a couple of conclusions about writing.
I can write what I know/ Or I can learn something else and write about it.
It doesn’t really matter if anyone else wants to read it. At first. If I keep on, they will want to read it eventually.
Practice may not make perfect, but if I don’t write, one thing’s for sure: I won’t be a writer.
So, I’ve never been to Paris. And the streets of Valdosta would probably seem as unfamiliar anyway. So here’s to learning and observing and gathering and sharing what I know.
Maybe you’ll come along…

$137.
That’s the value of this blog, according to one of those web analytic services.
Hi dee ho, loyal readers! All two of you! Where have you been? Oh, wait…
This is the moment you’ve been waiting for all weekend: the possibility of a Sunday Night Unwind! Here goes…
Finally, let me leave you with this simple but powerful quote from the late, great Peter Drucker: “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
Thanks, and to all a good night!
The Bucket List, I mean.
In light of this morning’s random thoughts, all day long I’ve been thinking about what would go on that list. Fact is, I’ve thought about it along and along, but never really thought about it.
So far today, that list includes trains, baseball, and a symphony orchestra.
I’ll let you know how it turns out…
Just some Saturday randomness…
vassilis galopoulos via Compfight
“If I were a(n) ____________, what would I be doing today?”
Many of us feel like we’re stuck in our jobs. What we’re doing right now is not paying the bills. Or it’s not fulfilling. Or it’s not fun anymore. Or it’s boring. Or it’s not making a difference. Or whatever.
Many of us think about changing jobs, about quitting our humdrum career and doing what we were made to do.
But most of us won’t. Why? Because we have fantasies about what that “dream job” would be, but we lack direction or courage or confidence or skill or whatever the excuse du jour.
I’ve been thinking about that lately, and I keep coming back to what a lot of others have said…
The first step to becoming a __________ is to think of yourself as a ____________.
Let’s take that a step further.
If I were a ___________, today I would need to be ______________.
How do you fill in those blanks?
If I were a pastor, today I would be preparing for Sunday’s message. I would be studying the Scriptures, praying over the truths and insights. I would be crafting the message so that I could most effectively communicate the Word to my congregation. I would be finishing up preparation for the rest of the worship service. I would be calling a few people to check on them. I would be planning the next few weeks and months and looking at ways to fulfill the tasks of the church. I would be devising strategies for increasing the church’s impact in the community and the world. I would have a full agenda. I would be busy.
If I were, say, a writer, today I would be writing. I’d be sitting at my computer or in front of my typewriter. I would have my pencil and notebook. I would be putting fingers to keys or point to paper. I would be thinking of the right words to say what’s on my mind. I would be agonizing over grammar and syntax and spelling. I would be busy.
Let’s say I were, I don’t know…a designer. I’d be upping the level of my creative skills so that I could take my designs to another level. If I were a salesman, I’d be calling on customers and familiarizing myself with my products so I could match the two in effective ways. Suppose I were a teacher. I would be helping my students grasp some concept. I would be grading their work and providing feedback to help them improve.
And so on.
The point is that if I want to be a(n) ______________, I need to start doing the things that ___________s do.
I need to stop making the excuses and get busy. I might not become the next great ___________, but I will likely be closer to it that way than if I sit here in a subjunctive mood.
What do you want to be? What would you be doing right now?
Why not do it?