I’m currently in Atlanta, GA. It’s 6:46am. I’m laying in bed, in a large southern home at 193 Elizabeth St. Me and the guys are staying at an Airbnb while attending the Trade Show located at the America’s Mart buildings.
How am I?
I feel disjointed. Perhaps it’s the Jet Lag? Or maybe the constant travel the past eight weeks. I’ve taken eight flights in eight weeks. Not to mention a five day cruise.
There is no routine.
I haven’t been reading, or reflecting as much as I’d like.
In order to achieve anything, you need a plan, then you need to apply discipline, which is nothing more than focused effort, or consistent habits. But you can’t very well establish a habit, or a routinized set of actions, when you’re traveling, when your whole world is changing day by day. I don’t feel very rooted.
However, I arrive home in Nashville on Sunday, and I’ll be there for roughly two weeks. This should provide some relief. I can’t wait to read, to work, to write, in the confines of my home, of my space.
My mind feels scattered, my body abused. I’ve been liberally indulging in food and alcohol as I please, which hasn’t been over the top, just atypical for my usual consumption. And when I say usual, I mean what’s been normalized the past few years. The past four months on the other hand, have been all over the place.
I need to workout. I need to begin my good habits again.
Linnea. We’ve been exchanging letters again. I still haven’t heard her voice. Well, that’s not right. She sent me a recording of her voice in October, only it was in Swedish. I had a friend translate it for me, and she said “do you know where the station is? We can take the train instead even though it’s late. What do you think?”
Linnea is transitioning jobs and moving to Washington state from Boston. Her brother lives in Presidio Heights in San Francisco.
Linnea is either everything I could ever ask for in a girl, OR she’s completely mad. I’m hoping she’s everything I could ask for: sweet, intelligent, cultured, well traveled, well educated, ambitious, blonde, fit, deep, complex, mysterious, but… so so so familiar. It’s scary, but exhilarating. We exchange emails every other day. We had a falling out sometime in November after a miscommunication. We had made plans for her to visit me in Nashville, but I cancelled abruptly, because of a last minute wedding I decided to attend, and she overreacted and lashed out, which caused me to distance myself. I emailed her on NYE as I was looking over my journal. I came across entries about her and I, and wondered where things went wrong. I then emailed her, and she responded, and we’ve continued corresponding ever since. She’s in Europe holidaying, visiting family, skiing in Switzerland, and the like, while her work visa is processing. She’ll be arriving back to the states at the end of January to begin her new job. She plans to visit her brother in Presidio heights, located in San Francisco, not far from Palo Alto.
I do hope she’s everything I am dreaming she is, because I’ve had no better dream. Something resonates so deeply, that it enrapts my entire being into the deepest thoughts and feelings. It leaves me feeling spiritual.
I would like to cultivate my mind more. It feels regular, and not deep. It leaves me immensely dissatisfied. I want to experience the joy of revelation. Of epiphany. These are the only feelings I wish to possess. Not the sloth habits of eat and drink, or sensual pursuits such as sex and other salacious obsessions.
I have a tradeshow to attend today. I should probably get ready.
Some things that have been on my mind:
How to grow a successful business? Sounds so simple.
What is the role of storytelling in our culture? How to be an effective leader/storyteller
How to be more effective? I want to be a more effective person.
What skills can I acquire and learn that will improve my efficiency and effectiveness as a person?
How to prioritize actions? Evaluate first actions.
Some goals for 2017
Grow the business: to $1.5 million in revenue
Gain a basic proficiency in the following languages (lessons 1-30)
•Swedish
•Thai
•German
•Spanish
(Probably way too ambitious. They say stick to one language at a time. I need to decide which language this should be…)
Write two books of any length
-At least one story
Doesn’t matter how polished
Read one book a week
Travel to Asia again (June 11-27th, 2016)
Pay off debt
Exercise 4 days a week and stay on a meal plan
William Dare 