So, 2012 is upon us, hey?

After jotting down my thoughts on 2011, I really wanted to spend some time looking ahead to this new year. In fact, I’ve been downright excited to write this post. So then, it figures that I start having problems with the site that I have to address before I can keep going.

First, the site went down… again. This was a fairly common occurrence this past year, and I don’t want to risk it happening again. So, I switched servers, which took most of last week. I figure there is no reason to slap together a new post and try to drive traffic to it if the site doesn’t work. So I waited.

Then, yesterday, I notice that MailChimp had screwed up my signup forms for The “I Can” Movement. After hassling with customer service, I decided to switch over to Aweber, which I am still in the process of doing.

So, after all of this, I am ready to start some serious writing, and the site and community should be happier for it (and if the signup form on the right side of this page looks bland, just be patient. I’ll get it jazzed up soon).

So, I find a great exercise is to sit down and figure out what you plan on doing this year. After discovering all the cool stuff I was able to accomplish last year, I was even more excited to put this list together. There’s a great mix of travel, professional, and personal stuff (much of it from my bucket list) on here that should make 2012 a rousing success. If you keep up with what I’m doing here or elsewhere, then here’s what you have to look forward to:

I’m going to totally dominate Europe this year.

This is the big one. In October, my wife and I are going to celebrate our two-year anniversary by flying into London and doing a giant figure-8 across the continent. We’ll be visiting my old college roommate in Scotland, as well as hitting up Germany, Ireland, England, Rome, Paris, and Austria. It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime.

After visiting Taiwan a few years ago, I’m doubly excited to hit another continent, as well as immerse myself in the cultures of the world – and the food!

Attend a Packer game while they’re good.

I’m from Wisconsin. That means I’m a Green Bay Packer fan. They only lost one game all season this year, and as of this writing, they are defending Super Bowl champions. In other words, they’re good. I plan on heading up to historic Lambeau Field to enjoy it in person next season.

Make $50,000/year.

This is the next income goal on my bucket list, and I think it’s very doable this year. It’s going to take a lot of effort on my part, but I look forward to the challenge. As I expand my business, this should become more and more of a possibility. I did not come close to this income level in 2011, but I am poised to make a run for it if I play my cards right in 2012.

Get 1,000 Twitter followers.

It’s not the be-all, end-all in terms of influence, but I do feel that having over 1K followers on Twitter will really give me the opportunity to spread the word about what I’m doing, as well as connect with more awesome people. One thousand is a completely arbitrary number, but it’s a big one for me. As of this writing, I’m sitting at just under 800.

Play guitar at a performance level.

I don’t have clear parameters on this yet. I’d like to record myself playing, or even hit up an Open Mic night somewhere. I love playing guitar, but I’m generally pretty bad at it because I don’t practice enough. This is the year I dedicate myself to the craft so that I can be at a level that I can be proud of for a change.

Attend a bloggers’ conference.

There are lots of these available, but I’m headed to Portland, Oregon in July of 2012 to attend the World Domination Summit. It’s much more than a bloggers’ conference, but it will give me the chance to connect with so many more like-minded individuals.

Take a train somewhere.

I’ve never really been on a train (Disney World doesn’t count). We’ll be taking it around Europe, so this should take care of that.

Run a half marathon.

Yep, last year I ran a 5K independently. Twice. Now, I’m taking it up a notch. I planned on working on this sometime later in the summer, but a friend of mine convinced me to sign up for one on May 5th. So I guess this one will be crossed off a lot sooner than I had originally planned!

Write more epic stuff.

One reason I really enjoyed the 2011 review is because I was able to write a much longer post. That’s the goal this year. I find that it will be better for me as a writer, and it will force me to come up with stuff that you guys will enjoy and be able to learn from. In my head, I’ve got this post from Corbett Barr over at Think Traffic stuck in my head.

Implement “No TV Tuesday”.

Last night, my wife and I had our first full-scale “No TV Tuesday”. We have struggled with leaving the TV on and watching “just one more” episode of something, effectively killing our desire and resolve to get stuff done. Instead of leaning on that, we are now actively not watching television on Tuesdays. The result? We got a lot done, and we spent time playing a board game instead, which was actually a lot of fun.

TV isn’t evil. As I’ve written in the past, I love TV. But it can control your life if you’re not careful. When I was hanging out with Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus when they were in town last month, Joshua said that he didn’t own a TV, but only because he knew he would watch it constantly.

It’s not as simple as saying something is “good” or “bad”. It’s about recognizing your own weaknesses and shortcomings, and taking steps to fight them. That’s what “No TV Tuesdays” are about for us.

Migrate from SEO writing into full-time direct mail copywriting.

SEO writing has gotten me out of the office job, and for that I am grateful. However, it’s not a very challenging or fulfilling occupation. With direct mail, I’ll be able to make a lot more money and work less, creating more freedom in my life while we pay down our debts. I’ve  igotten my foot in the door at several companies, but I have to make sure I perform to the highest level so that I can establish myself. Once that happens, I can ditch the SEO work. It’s a switch that I’ve been waiting to make for 6 years.

50 Guest Posts in 2012

According to Caleb Wojcik of Pocket Changed, I’ve got a little competition for this one. The only way I can grow the audience here and at HustleLife Magazine is by getting my name out there, which means I have to make guest posting a priority. That’s what this year is all about. So I’m hoping that I will be able to knock out 50 guest posts on various sites to really start gaining some traction!

Smarter consumption of information.

A lot of people feel that there is an information overload in today’s online world, and I would be inclined to agree. But I don’t think that we necessarily need to cut it all out. In fact, you can limit your information overload by having a better system of managing it. Some people will use different tools, but here is what I have:

• My Kindle + Readability. With my Kindle, I can read books anywhere – quickly and easily. This is great, but the real power of the Kindle comes from combining it with Readability. With the combination, I can find long-form content online and send it to my Kindle with one click for later reading. So instead of managing magazine subscriptions for my long-form content, I just keep my Kindle. One of my favorite places to find great content that I can read is LongForm.org, which allows me to click “Send to Kindle” and be done with it.
• Google Reader. I keep trying other tools, but Reader still can’t be beat for clean and simple feed reading. I manage a lot of feeds from Google Reader, but I don’t read everything within their interface. Sure, I will if I have the time, but if I want to batch my stuff and save it for later, I use…
• ifttt and Evernote. With these two tools, I can save links from Google Reader and Twitter that I want to review later, eliminating my need to constantly consume information. With ifttt, as I’ve written about before, I can star items in Google Reader that will go into my “Links to Review” notebook in Evernote. Then, when I see an interesting tweet or link on Twitter I want to look into, I just “favorite” the tweet and it is sent to the same notebook in Evernote. Then, I can just read them at my leisure on my…
• Netbook. With my new netbook (see the goofy picture above), I now have the laptop I’ve always wanted/needed. I can use it for quick access to links and content that I want to review, and I can use it for portable working (or blogging – which I’m doing on it now).

Having an organized system of digesting content allows me to read on my own time, where and when I am comfortable. Then, I am able to weed out the important stuff and keep my brain learning new interesting and valuable information without becoming overloaded. Oh, and the entire system uses free services, which is awesome.

Okay, what about you?

What do you want to do this year? Let’s chat in the comments section!

Thanks for hanging in there!

The idea was to take time every day in November to post about something that I was thankful for. It was going to be a series of 30 posts with a picture of whatever I was thankful for, along with a short little blurb. It sure didn’t happen.

In fact, because that was my plan for all the posts for this month, I didn’t really post much else in November. That’s what we on the interwebs call an “EPIC FAIL”.

Truth is, life got in the way, and every time I cleared off some work from my plate so that I could get it done, something else took its spot. I didn’t give the Cool 30 the priority it needed to work. I was planning on spending all day cranking them out today, when I received a last-minute assignment to work on this morning, and I quickly realized that slapping together another 20 or so posts out of nowhere wasn’t going to do anybody any good.

The Cool 30 was a failed experiment – and that’s okay. I still made the list for myself, and it was a good exercise for me to even think of 30 things that I’m thankful for. So I’m happy about that.

That said, we’re coming back next week with our regular posting schedule and lots of fun stuff. Check back – and sorry for missing this opportunity.

“Hey, I was checking out your bucket list online, and you have ‘tour the White House’ on there. I’m headed to D.C. in a couple weeks – wanna join me and we’ll try to get a tour?”

Um – yeah!

Last week, I spent 3 nights and 4 days in our nation’s capital with my best friend (the week before his wedding). He was there for a real estate conference, and I took it as the opportunity to head over and take in the sights and sounds of Washington, D.C., as well as meet up with a few people that I’ve been meaning to get together with – further a little business at the same time, right?

So below are my reflections on spending that time in Washington, D.C.:

It’s the perfect budget trip

By the end of the first day, I realized that I had to get my wife on this trip in the near future for one simple reason: it’s pretty cheap! Outside of paying for food and a hotel room, you spend a couple bucks to take the subway around. Admission to almost everything is free, with the exception of the Newseum. All the monuments and the Smithsonian museums are all free to the public – how cool is that?

If your goal is to travel more, I can’t think of a better place to put on your list. Not only is it an awesome place to visit, it’s pretty nice to your wallet.

The people are actually pretty friendly

Need directions? Trying to figure out where to get off the subway? Somebody will likely be willing to help you. You might even get a weirdo that will approach you in his car and offer to give you a ride (yeah, I appreciate it, buddy, but you can’t actually think I’m getting in there with you, do you?). Even crossing the street, people are willing to stop and let you cross, and nearly all of them smiled at me as I waved a “thank you”. My buddy says it’s just because it was during the day and all the criminals come out at night, but still…

This is the place where history comes alive

You’ve read in a book for years that man walked on the moon, but seeing the actual spacesuit is totally different. The Holocaust is a disturbing idea, but it hits you hard when you walk through a room full of shoes that the Nazis collected from Jews before killing them. You can’t help but feel a little inspired when you stand on the spot in front of the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the “I Have a Dream” speech.

If you don’t like history and find it boring, then you had the wrong teachers. There are some awesome stories from history. Take the time to digest and experience some of the highs and lows of American history with the actual artifacts from these moments. It gives so many stories a new perspective.

Public transportation is great – in theory

The first few days, I loved the Metro. It was great to only pay a couple bucks and get all over the city. How convenient is that?!? Being from Milwaukee, I never really used a subway in any practical form. Because I was on my own for a few days while my buddy was at his conference, I got around using the subway almost exclusively, and it was fantastic.

Then, on the final day, we were trying to get back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, and one of the tracks was closed. It took us over an hour to go 2 miles. When it works, it’s great. When it doesn’t, it’s a huge pain in the butt.

The White House tour is limited, but impressive (+ Another one off the list!)

Tour the White House (9/24/2011 with Aaron)

After going through four different security checkpoints, Aaron and I walked through the first floor of the White House. You start on the side, walk through the Blue, Red, and Green rooms, as well as a hallway that lets you peek into a few other rooms, including the library. You walk through one of the dining rooms, and you also walk out the front door of the White House. There are two other floors and a whole wing that you don’t get to see, and you don’t get to touch anything.

But here’s the thing: it’s still the White House! They had partitions up because a guard said the First Family was “in residence”, which is an insane feeling. And all the rooms were ones that are still used on a regular basis; they just had ropes up temporarily so we didn’t ruin the place. And not only do you get to see a lot of Presidential artifacts, but most of the famous Presidential portraits are hanging all over the place. That famous painting of Teddy Roosevelt? It’s up in the dining room, next to the most famous portrait of George Washington that exists. They’re not copies – they’re the real deal! It’s a great tour, totally free (but you have to book it through your congressman well in advance of your trip), and totally worth the hassle to get in.

Meeting fellow bloggers is awesome

I sat in a pizza place for about ten minutes, putzing around on my phone, waiting for a guy I only knew as “J. Money”. Yes, I was meeting a dude whose name I didn’t even know. But sure enough, he showed up, and we had a great conversation for about an hour and a half. We kicked around our business ideas and thoughts, and had a lot of fun.

Recently, I’ve been meeting with and speaking with a lot of fellow bloggers, and it’s a great piece of motivation to know these people and bounce ideas around with them. Entrepreneurship can get lonely at times, and it refreshes me to get the chance to talk to so many in recent weeks! (And check out J.’s site Budgets Are Sexy sometime!)

We know our monuments

Walking through the relatively-new WWII Memorial between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, all I could think of was, “Man, you can say what you want about America, but we sure know how to build a monument!”

No matter the monument or memorial, I’m always stunned at the attention to detail and the sense of respect that our monuments give. It’s touching to see so many people honored in our nation’s capital with this stuff.

It wasn’t as political as I feared (and that’s a good thing!)

Okay, I’m a conservative guy. I didn’t vote for President Obama, but I respect the position. He’s our President, fair and square. But I was worried that I would run into a lot of partisanship and stuff, just like on TV. But remarkably, I never felt confronted with politics. Obviously, the museums are pretty pro-America, and they should be. But Presidential screw-ups were on display as well, and it was nice to see all the past Presidents treated with respect, historically-speaking.

Additionally, it was freaking awesome when a caravan of helicopters flew over us, and the President leaned out of the last one and waved at us! (The tiny helicopter in the picture there)

It’s exhausting

In the span of four days, I saw the Air and Space Museum, the Washington Monument (several times), Lincoln Memorial (several times), the WWII Memorial (several times), the Washington National Cathedral (kinda – it was closed, but I walked to it), part of the Smithsonian National Zoo, the Newseum, the Holocaust Museum, the National Archives, the Museum of American History, the White House, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the FDR Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the Vietnam Wall.

Yeah, my feet hurt.

But I have to say, it is a must-see trip for everyone. I went 10 years ago, and I didn’t have nearly as much of the appreciation for everything as I do now. It’s fun, impressive, and educational. Highly recommended!

Last Saturday, September 10th, I knocked another one off the bucket list:

53. Run a 5K barefoot (9/10/11 – 27:04)

Above is me heading toward the finish line. Also, something I’ve always wanted to do but did not actually have it on my bucket list, was to win a medal for something athletic. I’ve run cross country since 5th grade, and through my junior year of high school, I never won any medals. I won a certificate for Honorable Mention All-Conference, but that’s because one of the kids ahead of me got disqualified.

Lo and behold, at this small race for my church, I came in second place in my age group, so I received a silver medal. Yeah, it’s not that big of a deal since it was a small, mostly non-competitive race, but I’m still pretty darn happy. It now hangs next to my computer monitor:

Next Saturday, September 24th, I will be in Washington, DC with my buddy. We will be touring the White House after going through our congressman’s office to set up a tour. That will be another one off the list. So what are you crossing off your bucket list lately?

One of the keys to connecting with your audience, so I’m told, is to get personal with them. If you are new here, or you just haven’t connected with me yet, here are a bunch of pieces of trivia about me, along with some pretty embarrassing pictures. It’s my effort to be more transparent in my work. Enjoy. In response, feel free to share something about yourself in the comments! 

1. I play really mediocre guitar.

2. One of the proudest moments of my life occurred when I was eating chicken nuggets in a McDonald’s by myself – in Taiwan.

3. Another one of my proudest moments was my wedding day.

4. Outside of my cousin (and best man) Aaron, I had few – if any – genuine friends in my life until I got to high school.

5. I talk to my cats, and I don’t think that makes me crazy (if they start talking back, then yeah, I’d be crazy).

6. My junior year of high school, I developed an allergy to exercise that continues to this day. Before I go for a run, I have to take a Benadryl.

7. If I can avoid buying brand names, I will.

8. My favorite store is Aldi.

9. I have a pure love for cooking. Also, I have a pure love for eating. These tend to go hand-in-hand.

10. Once, in my bachelor days, I pulled $10 in quarters out of my Tootsie Roll bank to buy a week’s worth of groceries because I was broke.

11. My first blog was Vintage 90′s, dedicated to my favorite decade ever.

12. Get me a decent cigar and a smooth, dark beer, and I will be your friend for life.

13. I thought Twitter was a dumb idea until I started using it. Now it’s my main method of communication with lots of people.

14. I love Milwaukee, but it sure seems like I’d network better in Portland.

15. As of this writing, the Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl Champions and the Milwaukee Brewers are the hottest team in baseball (and on the cover of Sports Illustrated). I’ve never been a happier sports fan.

16. I think the Kindle is one of the greatest inventions of the last 25 years.

17. Generally, while I respect them as a business, I hate Apple.

18. If I can install Ubuntu on it, I will.

19. I keep my hair very short because I spent 20 years with ridiculously-unmanageable curly hair that I hated.

Me, in high school. Yeah, you'd cut it short, too.

20. I have a love for facial hair, though I don’t always have the patience for it. My fantasy football team name this year is Meitner’s Mustaches.

21. I once waited tables with a manstache. For those two weeks, I had remarkably low tips.

This is a manstache. I'd wear it more often, but my wife would probably strangle me.

22. As I walked into the classroom for a final exam at the end of a college semester, a classmate looked at me and asked, “You’re in this class?” I hated the last three years of college and went as little as possible.

23. My GPA and attendance records are not listed on my diploma.

24. I keep my diploma on my office wall to remind me to not spend so much time doing things that I hate.

25. I watch Phineas and Ferb, and I think it’s hilarious. So glad it’s on Netflix!

26. While I’m not crazy about storing so much information with one company, I absolutely love Google products.

27. If you have a business or product that I love, I will instantly become a flag-waving, drum-beating fan of yours. Just ask our wedding photographer.

28. My favorite vacation destination is Walt Disney World. Yes, I’m aware it’s fake, but I still love it.

Just look at how happy I am here!

29. Speaking of fake, I grew up watching professional wrestling and I have hours of it on our home server to watch when I please. I started watching again in recent weeks because of CM Punk.

Getting my picture taken with wrestler Kevin Nash a couple years ago. I grew up watching this guy.

30. One of my prized possessions is my autographed photo of Bill Cosby hanging in my office. It was a Christmas present.

31. I don’t think I could live without Google Reader.

32. I have IBS, which, contrary to pretty much what everybody I know thinks, does not mean that I just poop a lot.

33. I will not stop until I have a business built that I can be proud of, and that will support a family.

34. When I get done writing this, I’m going to try to make Oreo-stuffed brownies. [UPDATE: I did make them, and they are fantastic. Here's the recipe.]

So that’s me. What should I know about you?

Have you ever been at work and somebody else got promoted over you – and you think, “What’s he got that I don’t?”

Or how about being out with your friends and seeing some schlub out with a smoking-hot woman and thinking, “How did HE and up with HER?!?”

See someone who paid off their debts and is living comfortably? Seems to be happier than you? More successful than you? What do these people have that you don’t? Nothing.

These people aren’t “special”.

They don’t have a silver spoon in their mouth (at least, not all of them). They aren’t “luckier” than you are. They are not smarter, more savvy, and they don’t have more connections than you – at least not when they started down the road to success.

They busted right through their limits.

When you look at them like that, you impose limits on them: what you think they should be able to do, or not do. You do the same thing to yourself, and that’s why you’re not getting anywhere. You look for reasons why you’re not as successful as other people. Those who knocked it out of the park looked at life and said, “I’m going to do better.” Then they do.

It’s time for a new perspective.

Starting today, you can click here and download Subliminal Captivity: Why We Tell Ourselves to Give Up. This is the manifesto for The “I Can” Movement, which is a group of people who recognize that the only person holding you back in life is YOU. This ebook is free, and in it you will (hopefully) learn a lot about how your mindset affects how your life turns out, including:

• How the word “can’t” is cursing your life
• Why we cling to excuses like security blankets (and a personal confession from me)
• The illusion of “security”
• How to go from “can’t” to “can”
• Why you are not a puppet, doing the bidding of those around you (even if they try)
• Tools and resources to help you on your journey

It’s all that, and more! I had a lot of fun working on this and putting it together, and I’m very proud of how it turned out. I’ve sent out preview copies to many people, which has garnered responses from many who liked it, including Paul, a member of The “I Can” Movement who told me, “I read it through straight away and I loved it. I’m feeling more motivated than ever and it feels good.”

All you need to do is click here.

Thank you to all of you for your continued support, and feel free to send me comments/complaints/whatever about it!

I was never too broken up about it.

Actually, I was indifferent to it. I had told myself during my freshman year that I would never have a chance with her, so there was no point in investing my time, energy, or emotions chasing after her. I settled for other girls, who were just fine and seemed to be more “my type”.

During my senior year, I was doing the cliche thing of passing around my yearbook to have my fellow classmates sign it. That girl walked up to me and asked that we swap yearbooks to sign. I, of course, agreed. We were pretty friendly towards each other for the past four years, so I had no problem signing something nice in her yearbook. I figured it would be a cool little blurb that typical high school kids write. It was (they all were), but there was an interesting little section where she wrote the following:

Do you remember our freshman year of cross country? Guess what, I thought you were really cute and I had a little crush on you then.

She spent all of high school dating some other dude, and by the time I tried spending some time with her and seeing if we could date while we were in college, she was carrying way too much baggage and nothing ever came of it. So I spent high school settling for those I thought I should have been dating rather than the ones I could’ve been with.

Now, this is a rather pedestrian story. It happens all the time to people. But that’s the problem, and it goes way beyond who you date in high school.

We do things because we think we “should”.

We do them because it’s what is expected of us. We don’t do what we really want. We don’t chase our dreams. We don’t make real changes in our lives because we settle for what we’ve always known and always done. This is why we spend our lives in miserable jobs, carrying loads of debt and about 25 extra pounds.

We tell everyone we “can’t”. But we can, we just need to know how.

Next Wednesday, February 9th, I’m going to show you how.

On February 9th, I will be releasing a free ebook called, Subliminal Captivity: Why We Tell Ourselves to Give Up. It’s a guide to recognizing the times when we chain ourselves to mediocrity and the way things “should” be instead of making great, real changes to our lives. Here’s just a quick sampling of some of the topics covered in this ebook:

• Why “I can’t” is the enemy and the excuses we cling to like security blankets
• Getting from “can’t” to “can” in our vocabulary
• Recognizing that you are not a puppet, and you need nobody’s permission to change
• A variety of resources and tools to help and encourage you on your journey

Subliminal Captivity is going to be free of charge and readily available with one click. I don’t need to collect your email address or anything. You will be free to do with it whatever you want (except take credit for it). All I ask is that you read it. It will help.

Remember that girl in high school? I have no idea where she is now, but I saw the mindset I had that kept us from getting together, and I promised myself that I would not miss another chance to date somebody that I was interested in. So I took a chance on a girl a couple years ago, and now she’s my wife. Awesome things can happen when you recognize the limits that you are placing on yourself. You can take the first steps next Wednesday – come back then!

Ironically, in a week where I was going to start writing posts ahead of time so that I could have some in case of emergencies, I picked up a flu/fever bug that is keeping me away from my computer for large chunks of the day. It’s also pushing off other work I need to get done. So, the rest of this week will be pretty quiet around here. I may drop in on Twitter occasionally, so feel free to say hi there, but since my phone is broken at the moment, I can’t do much from the couch (and I don’t want to drag my laptop there, either).

So, hang tough, read the post I put up on Monday, get excited for the Manifesto, and I’ll see you next week!

On Wednesday, February 9th, The Practical Nerd will release the free manifesto for The “I Can” Movement, entitled, Subliminal Captivity: Why We Tell Ourselves to Give Up. This will give a little background on myself, as well as a detailed look at the theory that most of the limits and boundaries that are placed in front of us and in the way of our dreams are the ones that we put there ourselves.

It won’t be sold. It won’t be subscription-based. All you will need to do is click on it and start reading. I’m enjoying developing it, and I hope you will enjoy reading it when it comes out. Stay tuned!