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!

The result was an interesting group of experiences, news, apps, and a lot of rambling nonsense. So, in a nutshell, here’s what 2011 looked like for me:

I completed a full year of self-employment, and I’m poised for growth.

After quitting my job in 2010, I was able to make it through all of 2011 with a fairly consistent income, which was fantastic on many levels. I was afforded freedom and flexibility that you just don’t get with an office job, and it’s been wonderful for my marriage. In July, I was able to further my copywriting expertise and I am now cracking into the direct mail market, which is one of the most competitive and lucrative markets available to copywriters. I’m gaining some traction, so 2012 is fixing to be an exciting year professionally!

The Month of Brogan was upon us in the spring.

I kicked around other names: BroganMania, BroganFest 2011, etc. In the end, I almost met Chris Brogan, and because of that, I had a huge surge in traffic in March. Using that experience, I was able to get a guest post up on ProBlogger, which led to a crap-ton more traffic. I learned that Chris is a very giving fellow, and I was (and still am) very thankful that he shared my story with his thousands of readers. Now, I just have to actually meet the guy.

Wisconsin sports in 2011 experienced unprecedented success.

For the first time in almost three decades, the Milwaukee Brewers won the pennant. They made it to the National League Championship Series, and came within a game of making it to the World Series. As big of a bummer as losing was, the truth is that baseball in Milwaukee hasn’t been this fun in a very long time. On the football front, our beloved Green Bay Packers not only won the Super Bowl, but they only lost one game in 2011 (stupid Kansas City Chiefs!). They dominated the game all year, and it was so much fun to be a part of it. Now, we’re pulling for a repeat championship. Being a Wisconsin sports fan was truly a good time all year, after so many decades of pitiful teams.

I wrote some pretty good stuff here.

Here is a listing of ten of my favorite posts of the past year:

• 20 Average Goals from Extraordinary Achievers
• Dust Yourself Off and Keep Fighting
• Go Home and Get Better
• “Get mean and go do it.”
• Use Your Pain to Fuel Your Fire (a tribute to a lost friend)
• “The hard is what makes it great.”
• 34 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me
• 7 Reasons Why On-Demand TV Kicks Cable/Satellite TV Square in the Teeth
• Six Lessons About Hard Work and Persistence from My Six-Year Old Nephew
• Stop Complaining and Make Change

And you enjoyed some of it, too.

Here are the top 5 most-read posts this year, according to Google Analytics:

• 20 Average Goals from Extraordinary Achievers
• 9 Reasons Why Being a Nerd is Awesome
• How Almost Meeting Chris Brogan Led to Personal Growth
• 4 Movies to Fight Your Feeling of Hopelessness
• Why You’re Not Getting That Promotion/Guy/Girl/Life

After a ten-year hiatus, I returned to competitive distance running (and ditched my running shoes).

I signed myself up for a 5K race in May, and completed it in decent time, crossing something off my bucket list (see below). Then, after announcing my retirement, I signed up for another race in September – and ran it barefoot. Now, I’ve added a few more running-related items to my bucket list, and I plan to run a half-marathon in 2012. I’m loving every minute of it.

I started my bucket list, and I crossed things off like a madman.

• Stay at a Disney resort (October 2011)
• Tour the White House (September 2011)
• Take Amanda to Disney World as a couple (October 2011)
• Run a 5K independently. (5/21/2011 – 25 minutes, 10 seconds)
• Get 100 HustleLife subscribers. (October 21, 2011)
• Ride a horse. (October 21, 2011)
• Take a hot air balloon ride. (October 21, 2011)
• Go jet skiing. (August 13th, 2011 – Castle Rock Campground)
• Brew a drinkable beer. (July 2011 – Thank you, Mr. Beer!)
• Run a 5K barefoot (9/10/11 – 27:04)

My gadget crush on the Kindle grew, and I read some awesome books.

Last Christmas, my wife bought me a Kindle (now called the “Kindle Keyboard”). It has rapidly become my favorite gadget. I love reading anyway, and now I don’t have to hold open a big book or read in awkward positions. Instead, I can just focus on the reading, which I love. A few months ago, I discovered the usefulness of my Kindle email address, where I can send documents to read on my Kindle. If I see a cool article on the Web that is really doggone long, I can send it to my Kindle to read in bed later for free. Also, I signed up for a weekly article from SendMeAStory.com (a similar service is Delivereads), and they send me a cool feature article (usually topical) from a publication of the last 25 or so years, formatted for my Kindle. I just flip on my Kindle and it downloads! Add to that the free books to Amazon Prime members at the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, and this gadget has become my #1 source for content in the past year. Love. It.

A few of my favorite books this year include:

• Accidental Genius by Mark Levy
• Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
• Do The Work by Steven Pressfield
• The Last Lecture by Randy Pautsch
• The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

I failed to start a few series of blog posts.

I love blog post series, so I wanted to start some of my own. Given that this site focuses on small goals, I tried to create a list of 237 small goals. Unfortunately, nobody really seemed all that interested in the list, and it died a quiet death at #14. The same is true of the Cool 30, which was a Thanksgiving-related series I started. I didn’t make it a priority, and it died. Both of these are pretty public failures, but hopefully I will learn from them when I put together my next series effort.

Some awesome connections were made, and I met up with quite a few people as well.

This was the year that I finally was able to pound the pavement and meet with some really cool people that I had been following for years. I met Milwaukee restaurant guru Joe Sorge earlier this year on the same day that I shook hands and chatted with author and respected entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. Impossible-doer Joel Runyon moved to Milwaukee for a few months, and I had the privilege of getting to know him while he was here, and he connected me with a ton of other interesting people as well, including Josh and Ryan over at The Minimalists just last night. I was also able to meet up with J. Money of Budgets Are Sexy and Love Drop (see below) when I visited Washington, D.C., which was a load of fun as well. Sean Ogle of Location 180 started a new community called Location Rebel, and I was honored to be interviewed as an expert on building a location independent business, which also gave me the chance to meet Sean (via Skype). Through HustleLife (also see below), I have been able to connect with new people every single month, which has been incredibly rewarding.

I did some pretty awesome traveling.

From touring the White House in Washington, D.C. to strolling down Main Street, USA in Walt Disney World, I got to see some cool sights of the country. Add to that my buddy’s bachelor party in Chicago, and I got around a little bit this year!

HustleLife debuted.

In May of this year, I launched HustleLife Magazine – a free digital magazine dedicated to helping people achieve their dreams by rolling up their sleeves and getting to work. With interviews and other resources, it has become one of my favorite projects to work on. I’ve been very blessed to interview plenty of great people this year, and I’m looking forward to talking with many more. In October, the subscriber count grew to over 100 people, which is really humbling and way awesome.

Some cool apps and online services became essential tools in my life.

Don’t tell me the internet is a waste of time – I’ve discovered plenty of great tools and resources that I use every day:

• XBMC (XBox Media Center) – This is on our home theater PC, where we stream lots of shows and movies to our television in a slick interface.
• Netflix – Yeah, it got some bad press this year, but it is a serious resource for great TV shows, movies, and a ton of brilliant documentaries. And a lot of the content is in HD, which is just a bonus. It’s the best $8 a month that we spend.
• Google Reader – I tried Feedly, I really did. But Google Reader continues to be a clean, simple, and useful resource for my blog reading.
• ifttt – Many of these tools are run through ifttt, which lets you connect different web services with hundreds of uses. It, for example, allows me to automatically save certain items into my Evernote account for later reading with one click. A very powerful and underutilized tool.
• Evernote – Post ideas, magazine plans, ideas for stuff I can do later, future projects, current projects, recipes, blog posts to read, gift ideas, shopping lists, quotes, book excerpts, store hours. You get the idea?
• Amazon Prime – We used the trial to quickly get a wedding present for my buddy and his wife. At the end of the 30 days, we decided to drop the under-$80 for a year’s worth of the service. We’re never looking back. Prime gives us access to the Kindle library (from above), as well as unlimited two-day shipping on anything Amazon keeps in its warehouse. Virtually all of our Christmas shopping was done through Amazon this year, and we are even starting to order grocery items from there to save money. They even have a streaming library of TV shows and movies (still small, though) included in the service.
• Google Music – My new favorite way to store my music. With my Android phone, I can just stream my entire library to my phone through the data connection instead of carrying around another MP3 player or having to sync devices.
• Twitter – Networking made simple. Most of this review would be impossible to achieve without Twitter. Seriously.
• Endomondo – I don’t run without Endomondo anymore. It got me through my race training, and I plan on using it for my half-marathon training next year.
• Google Maps – With the turn-by-turn Navigation feature, I don’t get lost anymore. Heck, I used it to navigate the public transit and walk to destinations in DC. Must have, all the time.

My fellow bloggers knocked it out of the park this year.

• The Art of Nonconformity – Chris Guillebeau just kept doing his thing, inspiring a kerbillion people while he traveled the world. Favorite post this year: Second Chances
• 11 Points – A hilarious series of “Top 11″ lists. Yeah, that’s really all it is, but it’s really funny and cleverly written. Favorite post this year: 11 Worst Movie Posters of the 90s
• Advanced Riskology – Tyler Tervooren takes a really smart approach to risk, and it allows him to do things that others are afraid to do. Favorite post this year: 9 Tricks to Avoid Becoming a Mistrusted Hypocrite
• Blog of Impossible Things – After saying so many nice things about Joel, he’d probably be offended if I didn’t include him. Seriously though, Joel has accomplished so much in the past couple years, and he’s a very cool dude to know. Favorite post this year: Choose Doing
• Lifehacker – Half of my life is based on Lifehacker. Full of insanely useful tips every day, it is my #1 source for information. Favorite post this year: 50 Free Apps We’re Most Thankful For
• Location 180 – Sean Ogle, as mentioned before, is killing it with great business advice here. Plus, in his travels, he occasionally has some gems for life advice too. Favorite post this year: Inquiring Minds
• Nerd Fitness – Talking to Steve Kamb was one of the most fun interviews I did all year. His site takes a “nerd” approach to fitness, and he has uncovered some interesting stuff. His posts are always well-researched and thorough, and they are a lot of fun to read too. Favorite post this year: Simplify the **** Out of Everything
• Sensophy – I think Jacob Sokol is awesome. If nothing else, I want his office walls. I’ve chatted with him a couple times this year, and he is truly dedicated to finding his way in the world. Favorite post this year: 3 Things That Optimistic People Do Differently
• The Art of Manliness – A perennial favorite, I love what Brett McKay is doing here. With AoM, he is helping guys understand what it really means to be a man, without the stupid barbarism or the foofiness that comes with today’s guy. Old-fashioned and respectful – that’s what it’s about. Favorite post this year: Lose With Dignity. Celebrate With Grace. (Part II)

Love Drop was one of the most fulfilling moments of my entire life.

I met J. Money in DC as stated above, and he mentioned his business partner, Nate. Nate was from Milwaukee, and they ran a cool thing called Love Drop – where they raise funds for a needy family every month and then do a big “love drop” of gifts to help them right the ship. So I started following Nate on Twitter. The next thing you know, Nate’s looking for a family in Milwaukee to do a drop in December. I connected Nate with my former pastor, who operates a church in a rather needy area of Milwaukee. Diomi and Nallee were selected for Love Drop’s December push, and I was invited to join them when they bestowed the gifts on the family.

Watching Nallee try to comprehend that the piles of gifts were all theirs, or watching Diomi and her children embrace in tears when it’s announced that they are getting two new beds and a washer and dryer (they had been doing laundry in the sink and line drying in their apartment) were hard for me to sit through without losing it myself. Among thousands in gift cards and food, Diomi received tons of new dress clothes and a phone so that she can go to job interviews, and career coaching and counseling for free. Nallee, who had one school uniform and no socks (in winter – in Wisconsin), got plenty of socks, and five new uniforms. To be a part of helping a really needy family get some help is something I’m going to hold with me for the rest of my life.

It was announced that Arrested Development is returning for a new run of episodes and a movie.

The new season will be filmed and released exclusively through Netflix. It was officially the best year ever.

I hope your 2011 was as awesome as mine was. Next week, let’s get together and plan out what we’re going to do in 2012! Happy New Year!

On my regal white steed, Dash. Amanda is riding Achilles.

Think a bucket list doesn’t work? Think again. Not only is it a great way to manage your ideas of the things you want to do in your lifetime that you’ve never done before, it’s a cool way to remind yourself of all the cool things you HAVE done. While on vacation last week, for example, the following things all happened:

• Stayed at a Disney resort (The Coronado Springs Resort)
• Took Amanda to Disney World, just the two of us
• Rode a horse (see above)
• Took a hot air balloon ride at Downtown Disney (an unexpected bonus – also on Amanda’s bucket list)
• Reached 100 HustleLife subscribers

She then asked me what was my future plan. I told her that was my future plan. Her response made me think:

“So, what happens when you burn out? Like, when I burn out at work, I can still go in and do other things and still get paid. When you work for yourself, you won’t get paid if you don’t work.”

Now, my mother is not one to advocate going into a job and “doing it really half-assed” (which is “The American Way”, according to Homer Simpson). She has a valid point: most people who work can slow it down to recover from burnout and still get paid. What about me?

This was something I certainly had to keep in mind last week. See, this week, as you are reading this (if you’re reading it the week I posted it, anyway), my wife and I are gone celebrating our one-year anniversary in Orlando at Walt Disney World. I’m probably checking out “It’s A Small World” at the exact moment you are reading this.

Editor’s note: Gosh, I hope not.

But we agreed this would be a “hard” vacation, which meant no work. Other trips I’ve taken this year have involved me taking my laptop along to get some work done in the mornings. This week, my laptop stays at home. No work.

So last week, I had to finish all the work that was due. In a normal situation, this would mean that I would do two weeks’ worth of work in one week. While not an attractive option, it’s doable, and it’s something I’ve done before. But because of bad timing on the part of some of my clients, my week was loaded: 120 pages of content for various clients and 4 white papers.

In other words, nearly TWO MONTHS’ worth of work in one week. Hellooooo, burnout.

I hit a wall around Wednesday, and Thursday was an incredible struggle. With a couple of very late nights, I was able to get all the work done, but I still had to do things to keep myself from jumping out of the window. Working 10+ hour days all week on very unfulfilling work can feel like a cement block tied to your neck.

But I also learned how to manage burnout, and how to keep it from overtaking me completely. Here’s how I got around it, and how you can manage to avoid burnout in your life (without having to go into your job and phone it in every day):

Take Daily Breaks

While so many people understand and recognize that an entrepreneur often works harder than most people do in an average day, some still don’t get it, and they like to throw it in my face that I’m “lazy”. Common ones include: asking me if I’m awake when they call at 10:00am, commenting on me working without pants on (which I don’t do that often), and criticizing my lunch breaks.

See, unless I am swamped, I take a 1 ½ hour lunch break every day. After working from around 8:00am until 11:30, I stop working and leave my office until 1:00pm. This is my only scheduled break for the day, and I take advantage of it. It allows me to get involved in a non-work activity (cooking), and it gives me brain a rest. I can watch something on Netflix with a fresh-cooked meal while sitting on the couch, and I cherish my lunch breaks.

Some view it as lazy, but I see it as priorities. I find it much harder to get back into the “swing” of the work day when I have to rush through my lunch, and hurry up to get back at my desk. A quality lunch break begats a productive afternoon – and yes, I said “begats”.

Maybe you can’t take long lunches every day, but find times to step away from your desk and give your brain a rest for a few minutes during the day – multiple times a day. Otherwise, you’ll go crazy.

Unwind at the End of the Day

I used to get irritated at my brother when we were both teenagers, because after he worked until 11:00pm at the supermarket, he would come home and watch TV instead of going to bed. Then, we’d struggle to get him going in the morning. But my mom said he needed to do that to unwind at the end of the day.

I never understood that until I started working late myself. When I waited tables a few years ago, I wouldn’t get home until 1:00am. But then, I would make a plate of pizza rolls and turn on the TV to unwind. My brain needed to transition out of work-mode. Even when I worked late last week, I had to surf a little bit on the internet after working to calm my brain down.

Unwinding lets your brain focus on something else, and this is where you start really recharging your batteries. You can’t go straight to bed every night and then get up hoping your brain will switch back on. It just doesn’t work that way. Give your brain some active rest.

Find Outlets

There are three “outlets” that I try to tap into every day: creative, intellectual, and physical. For creative, I have this site and HustleLife. For intellectual, I keep my Kindle by my bed. Currently, I’m reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and I will be following that up with Bram Stoker’s Dracula – both are free on my Kindle. For physical, my wife and I try to exercise on a regular basis, and we are in a bar volleyball league with some friends on Sunday evenings.

These are ways to “work” at something, but still keeping it pleasurable. I savor our Sunday evenings, where we get drenched with sweat and dive in the sand for a little bit. It’s fun. Reading something I like to read makes a big difference in keeping my brain strong, and writing on a regular basis keeps that other side of my brain in shape. If your brain only has work to “exercise” with, you are going to get pretty miserable pretty quickly. It’s like being in a gym with tons of things to do, but you are always forcing yourself to run on the treadmill that faces the wall. You’ll stay in better shape and have more motivation to do all of it if you can spread yourself around a little bit.

Take Long Breaks

We’re not awash in money, but we have spent the past year planning this week’s vacation. It literally began as our plane was taking off en route to Hawaii on our honeymoon. My wife turned to me and said, “For our one-year anniversary, we should go to Disney World.”

You can get anywhere if you plan and save accordingly. Sometimes it’s great to just unplug from work and forget about it for a week. It’s the ultimate battery charger, and it should be done at least once a year, if not more.

Yeah, you’re going to deal with burnout from time to time, but you can keep it at bay for longer if you follow these tips. What’s your favorite burnout buster? Share in the comments!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe the teacups are calling my name…

“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!

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?

• Set up a training log.
• Put together a healthier meal plan for next week.
• Balance your checkbook and plan out your budget.
• Brainstorm your business idea.
• Call that guy/girl you’ve always wanted to date but never had the courage (or, to a lesser extent, send them a Facebook message).
• Pick up the phone and call up a friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
• Find a new book to expand your knowledge of a particular topic.
• Write something of your own.
• Research that trip that you’ve always wanted to take and put together a game plan to get there.
• Go pull your kids away from the television and play a game with them.
• Ask your spouse how his/her day went and listen to them.
• Jump on Craigslist and find that instrument you’ve been meaning to play.
• Go down to the basement and find five things you can sell on Craigslist to make some extra cash.

Did you click on any of the links above and start reading them? Great (that’s the point) – but end it there. There are thousands of things you can do with your time. At some point, you’re spending too much time reading about them and not doing them. Don’t get lost in the inspiration phase. Get away from the computer and start getting things done.

I bet you’re ready.

One of my favorite pictures of Mason - ring bearer for our wedding last year.

When was the last time you witnessed something heartbreaking, yet entirely inspiring, and you struggled to get it out of your head for days?

This past Sunday, one of my cousins held a graduation party. Some family members showed up, including my six-year old nephew and godson, Mason. Mason is a few months away from turning seven, and he’s starting to get involved with sports. He is on a soccer team, and he clearly has a lot of fun being a part of the crowd.

Mason, however, is a bit small for his age.

He skews a little shorter and skinnier than the other kids in his class and on the team. That doesn’t stop him from wanting to get involved, but it makes you feel for him a little bit when that size disadvantage comes back to bite him. Sometimes his kicks of the soccer ball nudge it forward a foot instead of firing it down the field. But he clearly enjoys himself.

At this graduation party, there was a basketball hoop in the driveway.

Because the house had no small children left, it is a full-size basketball hoop. While to us it was a standard height, to Mason it might as well have been on top of a skyscraper. When Mason saw a few of us shooting hoops, he wanted to join in. So he struggled to get a good grip on the basketball, held it behind his head with both hands, jumped into the air and tossed it as high as he could.

The ball traveled about a foot in the air before dropping to the ground. Immediately my heart went out to him. All he wanted to do was play basketball with us, and he couldn’t get the ball anywhere close to the net. But as the ball rolled onto the grass, Mason went after it, picked it up, and headed back out onto the court. Picking a different spot under the hoop, he gave it his best shot. The same thing happened.

Over and over and over, Mason grabbed a basketball, held it up high, gave it as big of a wind-up as he could, and heaved it into the air with all of his strength – and every time, it went up a foot or two and came crashing down to the earth.

I came from Mason’s world. I wasn’t necessarily smaller than he was, but I have three older brothers. I know what it’s like to be surrounded by other people all playing a sport that you can’t. So I tried to help him. I taught him how to shoot “granny style”, which was only marginally helpful. I picked him up and tried to put him right next to the hoop so he could make the shot, but without the ability to wind up and jump, he could barely get the ball into the air.

But Mason never really quit.

He kept on trying – for hours. And it’s an image I can’t get out of my head: a bunch of college-aged kids (or older) sinking baskets and shooting layups around a six-year old that just stands there, determined to make one basket. It has stuck with me for two days now, and it’s amazing that, while it kinda makes me sad to see him try so hard, it also gives me so many takeaways that I can apply to my own goal-achieving attempts:

1. If what you are doing isn’t working, alter your strategy. I noticed, later in the party, that Mason had switched from a basketball to a volleyball. He had apparently found a volleyball nearby and, discovering that it was lighter and smaller, incorporated that into his basketball shooting. It helped a little – the ball clearly could go a bit higher for him – but it didn’t quite make it. Mason saw that what he was doing wasn’t getting him any closer to his goal, so he switched it up a little bit. How many times do we focus so intently on a goal that we ignore the fact that we aren’t getting any closer to them? Being flexible in your strategies is a key to getting closer to the finish line.
2. Have no intimidation of those around you. How often do we spend most of our time focusing on what other people are doing? If you have no money, you sit and focus on how “lucky” so-and-so is for having a solid balance in their back account, or whatever. Mason could have done what I usually did when I was his age: notice the other people who are playing much better than him, and give up. Mason refused. With everything that was going on around him, Mason stayed put, shooting away. A few times, he took a basketball to the head from somebody else who was taking shots. He’d stop, turn around to see who shot it, smile and laugh, and then continue on his quest. He didn’t care that others were better – he was just focused on his own shooting.
3. Persistence is everything. Mason made progress out there. The only reason he made any progress is because he kept trying. When most of us chase after goals and we fail a few times, we just say, “Oh well, I guess I wasn’t meant to do that.” Mason never said that to himself. He just kept going. If you don’t try, you’ll never succeed.
4. Have fun with it. He never looked sad. He never looked frustrated. He never got angry. He didn’t get embarrassed. He just took his shot, ran after the ball, and took another shot. He laughed occasionally, and smiled when you made eye contact with him. Mason never made himself miserable the entire time. He kept his spirits up. That’s the only way to go after a goal. When you chase after something, remember how great that goal is, and use that to fuel your mood. Just because you’re not there yet doesn’t mean you won’t get there, so let the “getting there” be your motivation, and you can keep your mood up. Besides, once you get frustrated, you start making mistakes.
5. Don’t be afraid to take a break, but then get back to business. At one point, a bunch of the kids were playing with the hammock and having a great laugh. Mason stopped playing basketball to go over there and share in the fun. Then he went back to shooting. Some of the other big kids were playing volleyball, so he went over there and “played” with them (which consisted of standing on the court and shuffling his feet with excitement when the ball came over the net). Then he went back to basketball. Taking breaks can recharge your batteries a little bit, but don’t get carried away with them. At some point, you need to go back to work.
6. You may not reach your goal right away. As far as I could tell, Mason didn’t make a single basket that day. Probably somewhere in his mind, he understood that it might not happen. But that didn’t stop him from going after it. It shouldn’t stop you, either. Some days, you just have to put in the grunt work.

My wife and I left the party before him, and Mason was still shooting baskets when we left. I don’t think he made one. But I hope that I’m there the day he does finally make one, because I want to see the excitement in his face when all that hard work pays off.

One of my favorite posts to run into as the weekend begins is The Simple Dollar’s “Ten Pieces of Inspiration”. It’s a relatively recent series where Trent lists various things in his life that keep him going, from videos to stuff his kids do and so on. It’s fun, and it helps me find new things to inspire me as well.

So I thought for a minute: what inspires me on a regular basis? And more importantly, where can you turn for inspiration? When you are working towards a goal, you may reach a point where it seems like nothing is pushing you anymore. This can be a dangerous spot to be in, because everybody needs to recharge their batteries. Get some more juice out of your batteries by looking around you for inspiration. Here are some places I go:

My wife

I’m not just sucking up because she reads this (hi honey!). When my wife walks through my office and sees that I’m a little frustrated, she likes to remind me how proud she is of me for working hard. She picks up extra hours at the hospital, most recently knocking out a 2:00am-7:00am shift. She was the one who told me to quit my job and go back to running a business again. She supports me and the pursuit of my dreams, and she’s along for the ride sometimes.

What about you? The best sources of inspiration are the people closest to you. You are who you hang out with. Do you surround yourself with people that push you to be better, or do you socialize with people that like to crap all over your dreams?

Twitter

Yes, I do like to spend a good amount of time conversing on Twitter. And while some people look to Twitter as a giant waste of time, others recognize it for being a place where you can socialize and network with people who are setting out to doing the same stuff you are. Looking to start a business? Get out of debt? Lose weight? Be a minimalist? These types of people are all over Twitter. You can follow a few of them and get all kinds of inspiration from the stuff they say and the links they share.

What about you? Do you have a Twitter account? If you do, are you just following celebrities? Try branching out and looking around for people who might be able to inspire you. Not only that, but it provides a great networking opportunity that can bring some serious benefits, bringing you closer to your goals.

In Treehouses and Poke The Box

I’m fascinated by the move to digital publishing and all that it offers. As a creative writer, I look forward to the opportunities that I might have to publish great content quickly and cheaply as time goes on. That’s why I subscribe to In Treehouses, which is a digital magazine devoted to the digital publishing industry. I also recently purchased Poke The Box by Seth Godin, a brilliant marketer who is now realizing the power of books in ebook form. These guys are transforming the way we look at words, while inspiring us along the way. Their work is what is fueling HustleLife Magazine, my free digital magazine project that launches next month.

What about you? Look long and hard at your goals. What people are out there doing what you want to be doing? Are they doing it differently? What can you learn from others that can fuel your passions and goals?

My Kindle

In the same vein as Poke The Box (which I read on my Kindle), I’ve got a handful of books on my Kindle that have been incredibly inspiring to me. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is a beast of a book and I’ve been working on it for over a month (only about 35% through it), but I’m continually amazed by the resolve and work ethic of this guy. I’ll be writing a post about it when I’m done reading it in 2016. Another one is Decision Points by former President George W. Bush. Politics aside, Bush explains his actions and shows that there are plenty of sides to an issue, and it’s not as cut and dry as people make it out to be. He also shows that there is honor in admitting when you screw up, which he does (though not as much as certain people would like).

What about you? If you aren’t reading books, get going. There are people out there that can light a serious fire under your butt when you need it. Start with some good, well-written biographies and autobiographies. Go the free route and make it easy on yourself.

My ProBlogger post

In case you haven’t heard, I wrote a guest post last week for ProBlogger.net, one of the most popular blogging sites on the internet. It sent a tidal wave of traffic my way, but even better, The “I Can” Movement is boasting an 89% increase in subscriptions, and HustleLife Magazine is steadily growing – without a single issue being released. I gained about 70 new followers on Twitter and have had hundreds of new conversations. The post was tweeted over 475 times as of this writing, and it sits with 134 comments. The fruits of that post are there, and very obvious. I’ve enjoyed getting involved in so many conversations with so many smart and active people out there. Seeing these kinds of results are great for a guy who has been blogging for a few years now.

What about you? Where can you see the fruits of your labor? I bet they’re there, even if you can’t see them right away. Look at the results of your hard work. Look harder. You might be surprised, but they are there. Maybe they haven’t transformed your life yet, but celebrate them.

As you can see, there are plenty of places to go for inspiration. Need more? Start clipping notes in Evernote, follow some blogs, or watch some videos on TED. Inspiration is everywhere, you just need to find where yours is.

You know him: That Guy always forgets stuff. He’s always got that great idea, but never follows up on it. You make plans, but he forgets. He intends to do all this great stuff, but “never has the time”.

That Guy isn’t a jerk. He means well. He’s very thoughtful. But he’s one of those, “His heart’s in the right place, but his mind just isn’t”-type people. But for as nice as That Guy is, everybody’s annoyed by him.

(And of course, if you’re female, you might be That Gal.)

While being organized isn’t the be-all, end-all to this problem, it can certainly be a vast improvement to what you used to be. Getting yourself organized does a lot of pretty awesome things for you:

• It shows maturity to those around you. Yeah, you need to start acting your age. Kids forget stuff. That’s why teachers spent so much time when we were younger teaching us to write stuff down and keep track of whatever. Like everything else we did in school, we just learned enough to get the teacher off our backs. Now we’re stuck. But if you’re over the age of 17, you need to start getting organized in your life. It demonstrates that you’ve entered adulthood.
• You will actually find more time to do stuff. If you think you “don’t have time” to get organized, you’re dead wrong. I guarantee that you’ll find all sorts of time that you didn’t have before. Nowadays, I look back at my disorganized days and think, “Geez, how the heck was I so busy all the time? I didn’t do anything!” Keeping track of your time and what you are doing with it will uncover some surprises.
• People will actually want to make plans with you. Being proactive about your time will free up lots of time to spend with others, and since you’re remembering your plans now, people will be much more apt to make plans with you.
• You’ll get more stuff done. You might even be able to take on those other projects you’ve been meaning to get to! It’s like life optimization.
• You might even sleep better at night. If you’re the type whose brain can’t shut off at the end of the day because you’re so worried about this, that, and the other thing, this might be your key to getting out of it. That means you’ll be a little healthier to boot!
• Those great ideas can actually blossom into awesome projects. Now that you’ll remember your great ideas and have a central location for them, you’ll suddenly be able to develop them into stuff that could change your life!
• You might save some serious cash. A lot of wastefulness goes into things like grocery shopping and other types of spending. We’re going to start getting used to making lists!

Okay, so if we’re going to get organized, we need to make sure that it is easy to implement, doesn’t take a lot of effort to maintain, and that it takes advantage of lots of free tools that are at your disposal. While you could use a number of great tools, here are the ones that I think are most effective at getting this done:

• Set up your finances in ClearCheckbook. While ClearCheckbook is not perfect, it certainly is handy. The bulk of the internet world swears by Mint, but Mint doesn’t work with a few of my accounts, and I like to be able to manually reconcile my transactions. I feel like it keeps me on top of my finances better. So you can sign up for Mint, or you can use ClearCheckbook. Either way, you’re going to have a service that you can access from your phone (so you don’t have to carry around a checkbook anymore), and you can analyze your spending. I like ClearCheckbook for the spending limits that you can enter in, so we always have a snapshot of how we are keeping up with our monthly budget. This helps us plan our spending.
• Sign up for a Twitter account. Trust me on this. If you want to get involved with Twitter more, be my guest. But we’re using Twitter for one specific reason (see below).
• Get an Evernote account. I’ve long touted the wonders of Evernote in my daily life, and I continue to use it more and more. I use Evernote as a brain dump, where I can toss in articles that I find will be useful, organize receipts for my finances, and every little thought that I have can go into it. I have lots of different notebooks, but I set my default notebook as a “To Be Organized” notebook, which I review on a regular basis.
• Link your Evernote and your Twitter accounts for anytime notetaking. Ever out with friends and you get some brilliant idea that you won’t remember later? Or you are chatting with someone and they mention a book that you should read? When this happens to me, I can use my phone to quickly text a note into my Evernote account. You can learn how to set up your Twitter account and your Evernote account here, and now you have an insanely quick way to take down that great idea as soon as you think of it.
• Set up your Google Calendar. One of my other favorite services, Google Calendar may be one of the finest services that Google has ever put together. With Google Calendar, I have all birthdays, important dates, and things to do scheduled out, and I can have a specific event be sent to me as a reminder, either as a text message or an email, at a time of my choosing (five minutes before, one week before, 9 days before, etc.). This ensures that I won’t forget any important event. Plus, Google has added sports team schedules to it, so I’ll never miss a Packer game or a Brewer game throughout the year!

None of this should take more than an hour to set up. Once you start using it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. Plus, your friends will no longer see you as That Guy (or Gal). Instead, you’ll be reliable, you’ll know what’s going on, and you won’t feel so stressed out when trying to remember anything. What’s your favorite tool for keeping things organized?