Happy Halloween

Have a safe and enjoyable Halloween. And if anyone see the "The Great Pumpkin" let me know. I'm still believing he exists!

—b

Journey Into the IT Realm

More and more I'm realizing that my position at STEM continues to evolve. Four years ago, it was upgrading STEM's 20 year old "look". But now that has all-but been accomplished, we are realizing we are extremely behind in the IT realm. We don't have adequate back up, computers that are sufficient, and basically, an overall plan for our technology needs. It's quite scary knowing how vulnerable we are.

So, partnered with our new COO Steve Miller, the two of us will be the blind leading the blind not knowing what's in store. For you Lord of the Rings fans, picture Frodo and Sam stumbling into Shelob's lair (The big spider). We know we need to go through it to emerge victorious but we are terrified of the darkness that awaits. (Can you tell I'm currently listening to the LOTR audio books?)

Anyway, Steve is a great guy to work with. He knows where we need to end up and is good at putting one foot in front of the other. We also have help from a couple of my Mac friends. One is a fellow comic book fanboy (Stego) and the other is also a graphic designer (Jay) who also happens to work at an Apple store.

God has given Steve and I help. Albeit not in the form of elves, dwarfs, or wizards but even better help as Stego and Jay are serving God and not "the one ring". Thank you Father! (Who knows, maybe when this is all done, Peter Jackson can direct a trilogy about our adventure.) :)

I'll leave you with a humorous take on IT according to the wisdom of Dilbert. Enjoy.

click to enlarge

—b

Slump Busting

Since starting this blog November of 2005 (yes almost 2 years ago), this blog has been kept fed on a near daily basis...til now. Sure I've had some slow times but never like this. And unlike the past two years, I haven't had a son, the amount of freelance projects, and overall amount of responsibilities like I have now.

Last night I was trying to put this all in perspective. When struggling to describe anything, you're always safe using a sports analogy. Ie. "You hit a homerun with this latest project!" or "It was a bottom of the ninth, two out scenario." and everyone's favorite "You gotta just step up to the plate." So in continuing with the overused baseball analogies, I'll use one of my own. I'm just going through a blogging slump.

When trying to get out of slump, there are several ways to try and combat this. But for this purpose, I'll use Dr. Alan Goldberg's 10 Sports Slump Busting Steps and try to apply them to blogging.

Step 1: Ruling Out Non-mental Causes: Not all slumps are in your head. The 4 key training areas of athletic excellence. Eliminating the causes of the slump. Testing your performance awareness. Are you burnt out?

Am I bernt out (Get it? I used bernt instead of burnt. Creative huh.) ;) Yes, I am burnt out but I'm on the other side of it. So if I were a fantasy player, I would say "buy low" cause I'm gonna get better.

Step 2: Establishing Self-control: Stopping the Slide. Determining your mental strategies. Getting back in control. Mastering the "uncontrollables." Using the uncontrollable as your competitive edge. When the uncontrollables are people.

Well, my "uncontrollables" are becoming "consistantables" (yes I realize that isn't a word.) My work routine is becoming more routine again and I realize that freelance and Brevin will dominate my nights. As for using them for a "competitive edge"...ummm...well I know they are coming/here.

Step 3: Developing a Championship Focus: The Here & Now Rule of Peak Performance. Staying in the Here & Now. Controlling your eyes & ears. Using the pre-performance ritual. Staying focused during performance. Developing & using concentration focal points. Testing & evaluating your concentration ability.

Ok. Staying focused is always an issue for me but I have been doing the blog for nearly two years so it's just a matter of hitting priorities.

Step 4: Dealing With Your Fears: The single biggest cause of choking. Recognizing fear. Understanding fear. Defeating fear. Move towards fear. Break up the fear. Reframe the fear. Change the focus of concentration. Challenge the fear's logic. Create distance from the fear.

I guess my fears would be I would never get back to blogging since I really do enjoy it. So in this case, I just need to make sure I do what I want...blog!

Step 5: Expecting Success: The power of belief. Success & failure cycles. The structure of belief. Breaking down negative beliefs. Change the experience of the belief. Change self-talk. Change the time frame. Reframe negative beliefs. Use adversity to boost your confidence and intensity. Stop negative thoughts. Developing positive affirmations. Ignore the "experts." Associate to past successes. Learn from others.

Expect success huh? Well, since I don't make money on this blog, that's not a measure for succeess. I guess as long as it's a fun and creative outlet for me, that would be considered a success. If people enjoy reading it, that's a big bonus.

Step 6: Developing Positive Images: What movies are you watching? The quality of your internal imagery directly pre-programs your performance. The power of mental images. Developing slump-busting imagery. Check the accuracy of your images. Pick the proper perspective. Mentally rehearse in vivid detail.Begin your rehearsal with relaxation. Keep your sessions frequent & brief. Have a specific target/goal for your imagery. Anticipating problems. Seeing your way out of the slump. Copin g imagery. Mastery imagery. Relaxation script. Coping imagery sequence. Mastery imagery sequence.

(This author seems to be all about the power of the mind.) A positive image? Ok he's starting to get a little too "New Agey" for me. Does anyone remember in The Natural when the NY Knights were losing and they brought in some quack who kept telling them "loosing is a disease" and Roy Hobbs walked out? Well, I'm starting to thing that guy is the author of this book.

Step 7: Setting Slump-Busting Goals: The importance of the goal setting process. The road to success. Creating the "big enough why." The principles of winning goal setting. Make the goal yours. Eat an elephant. Set deadlines for your goals. Use outcome and process goals. Make your goals specific. Keep your goals flexible. Frame your goals in a positive way. Make your goals measurable. Write your goals down & post them. Sample goals. Working towards your big enough why.

Setting a goal is a good idea. As long as I keep the people who want to know what's going on in our lives, that would be a good goal. If I can continue to have fun with the blog, that's even better.

Step 8: Building Self-confidence: Physical preparation. Taking responsibility for your training. Strengthen your weaknesses. Set up your training environment to boost self-confidence. Use your weaknesses as strengths. Remind yourself that you've paid your dues. Catch yourself doing things right. Work with a coach who believes in you. Develop & use rituals.

Ok, this one is just a rip-off of Saturday Night Live's Stuart Smalley (aka Al Franken). "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"

Step 9: Becoming Mentally Tough: The stuff of mental toughness. Mastering failure. Viewing failure. Knowing the road. Explaining failure. Onward to mental toughness. The ABC's of mental toughness.

Yea, I don't think this one applies.

Step 10: Insuring Against Future Slumps: Reading pre-performance nervousness. The feelings, thoughts and actions of optimal and over-arousal. The feelings, thoughts and actions of under-arousal. Lowering over-arousal. Creating and using a resource room. Raising under-arousal. The slump meter-Developing an early warning system for spotting slumps.

This is another good one. Avoiding future slumps. I'll just try and keep everyone up-to-date even if I don't get the time to make it look "pretty" or have some fun with it.


Well, there you have it folks. A top ten slump busting post. Who knows, if it works, maybe I'll buy Dr. Goldberg's book...Naw! If anything, I'll purchase Stuart Smalley's book over this one. Just remember, "Your good enough. Your smart enough. And doggone it, people like you!"

—b

Vikes vs. Pack — Year 3

Wow do I have a lot to catch up on concerning the blog! So before I get overwhelmed, I'll share some pics with you. It's easy to do and it's always a hit with Brevin's grandparents. ;) The pics of Brevin are from a few weeks ago, but since Erin and I attended our third Viking/Packer game (all three have ended with the same result by the way), I figured this would be an appropriate time.

You can find the pics here.

Despite the poor performance by the Vikings, I had a great time. We picked up my brother J-Bone and his friend Snake and we all headed to a parking lot outside the Dome for some tailgating. It's amazing the price hike from one year to the next just to tailgate. Last year it was $25 (which was spendy enough). This year, try $40! Oh well, it was worth it.

Brevin did not attend his first Vikes vs. Pack brawl and looking back, we're glad. Thankfully his grandma Eidsmoe and aunt Emily came down and babysat. The amount of swearing (on both sides of the ball) was tremendous. Erin thought it would be nice if there were a "Family Section". I wholeheartedly agreed.

It was funny how the stereotypes remained true to form. The Vikings fans behind us had the worst mouths and cursed their own team as much, if not more, as they cursed their opponent. Meanwhile the Packer fans next to me were drunk before they got there and didn't stop drinking during the game. If I never hear a slurred version of the phrase "Yea baby!" again that'll be fine by me.

Despite the initial disappointment by Vikings fans, when Brett threw the now famous #421, 98% of us stood and clapped in honor of his accomplishment. It was neat to see almost all of the sold out Metrodome on their feet recognizing Brett. Shortly after the celebration, we were greeted with a pre-recorded video of Dan Marino giving a half-hearted congratulations to Mr. 4 for taking away his last unbeaten record.

All-in-all, we had a great time and can't wait to go next year. And just so I make myself clear after giving the Packers so much love...

GO VIKINGS!!!

Thankfully Mission Maker 2008 is done. We finished the loose ends this morning. That always feels good. I didn't put in nearly the amount of time at home like the past few years. It was only one week of late nights. Having a son made it 100 times harder to work. Erin was basically a single mom last week. (Thanks again Erin.) It's an experience I never want her to have to go through again. Thankfully there is always room for improvement and next year I'm confident the mag can be completed on work time, not family time.

When you get the magazine (if you don't, let me know and I'll get you a free one) take a look and see if you can tell I did the last half and STEM's other designer did the first half. I personally don't think so and think we make a great team. (Great job bigD!)

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us during this. Hopefully the magazine will be used to glorify God in ways we couldn't even imagine!


...Last but never least...


—b