Wrap 2012. Unwrap 2013.

Extra Large Coffee CupThis Saturday Evening Post is a bit different. The rain has stopped, and a soft breeze is blowing up the mountain. So much has happened this week. Grab a cuppa and snuggle in. Let’s talk.

Off My Chest

It seems, despite years of gritching to the contrary, I am subtle. Let me make something completely clear:

RP Logo final

 

is fully launched and in business.

 

Click the logo if you have not been there. Even if you have, unless you have been there in the last 24 4 hours, you have not seen all the new reviews! We will now return you to your regularly scheduled special edition of the Saturday Evening Post.

A Year Gone

M3 logo2012 held many things for M3.

  • 567 posts for a total of 740
  • 18 pages for a total of 29
  • 527,760 words
  • Total 20,911 comments (1,400 over estimate)
  • More than 2,100,000 page views (1.5M over estimate)
  • 10 guest posts
  • 46 Writer’s Spotlights
  • 82 fairy visits
  • Clyde

Some of the posts really caught your attention. How about a baker’s dozen?

  1. Most enduring: War Sucks.
  2. Best of Quaint Series: And then there were none…
  3. Surprise post: So, maybe it is a porn site.
  4. Best Pix: Inked and Vermin
  5. Greenest: Nurdles: It’s what’s for breakfast.
  6. MAD-est: Pick That Up!
  7. Controversial: Just Another Train Wreck
  8. Worst hatemail: Erection & The FBI
  9. Best Follies: First, First, Again & First
  10. Saddest: The Leaving
  11. Good Money: How much is debt is too much?
  12. Longest Conversation: Bad (Also wins most Love!)
  13. Biggest Party: Happy Wombat Day!

Redmund Productions

The year held many things for Redmund Productions.

  • 47-day delay in launch
  • 22 books
  • More than 200 flashes
  • 51 pages
  • 6 posts
  • One fully functioning website

I even accomplished a few things this year.

At least, I stayed busy.

A Year Here

Last year, I set some pretty specific goals for M3. I set them without foreseeing I would open Redmund Productions or publish two additional books in 2012. Rather than set goals I will not make (like a million words on M3), I am going to do this instead.

What I would be ecstatic to corporately pull off:

  • 250 new followers (email/RSS)
  • At least 10,000 registered users on RP
  • An average of 50 comments per post
  • 5 of my own M3 posts per week
  • Reach the million word mark
  • 3 posts per week on RP (mine and submits)
  • 20 guest posts on M3
  • 45 books for other authors (4 already signed)

If you are not one of the many who have blurred that line between the corporate me and the personal me, skip to the next section. Personally, I do have a few goals. One of them Clyde will cover, but these are pretty straightforward.

  • Two real, unplugged vacations (Not even taking my CrackBerry)
  • Develop an app for my children to communicate using touch screen technology
  • Sell my house
  • Move home
  • Discover weekends (historically, Monday and Tuesday)

One of those will happen, even if all the others do not.

Right Turn, Clyde!

Clyde looks at the idea of resolutions with a bit of fish eye. Necessarily, to resolve something a problem existed to which a resolution was necessary. The only exception to this is the resolution which is actually a new goal. Deciding to open a new business is not a resolution as much as it is taking on something which did not exist before. (Yes, there are a few exceptions to this example, but it was the best an orangutan could do. Work with him. You will see.)

We spend a lot of time looking at our life situations and deciding what we can change. Most times it is totally reactionary. Gained ten pounds over the holidays? Lose weight is the first goal. Got the gift-giving credit card statement? Pay off debt is the next goal. Figured out you really cannot stand Quaint’s holiday behavior? Find new friends.

It all sounds terrific. You get busy, but you figure out after a couple weeks nothing is really any different. You do one of two things: Scrap the goals or be insane.

Yes, insanity is doing the same thing expecting a different result.

Enter Ape

Right turn, Clyde.

Right turn, Clyde.

One of my goals everyday is to learn something.  When I was younger, I may have been deluded enough to believe there would be a day when I no longer felt the need to learn, but it would have been completely delusional. In fact, I feel the need to learn more now than I ever have. It helps keep insanity at bay.

As the reigning queen of how NOT to do so many things, I have come to realize there is a true air of negativity all around me. As I listen to those in the inner circle and the ripples beyond, I keep hearing words I do not understand.

I have no choice.

When I hear them, I squint a bit and curl my mouth into something resembling Elvis’ snarl. For me, the claim should begin with the word but; truly, it is cracked.

Let’s look at Clyde’s example. For the person who is stuck in a job with less than stellar hours/conditions and which pays enough to live as someone’s roommate and occasionally eat something other than Ramen noodles, one of the resolutions made every year is to get to a better place. This person may look at starting a new business as a fulfillment of the resolution for better.

For the person who is retired and enjoying the calm of not punching a clock, starting a new business is creating something where nothing existed before. It may be this person sees an opportunity which had been elusive during the clock-punching days.

Question

What was the question?

Always with the questions.

How often is the person working for someone else saying, “I have no choice.”? They can barely afford to pay attention so feel overwhelmed by the idea of beginning a business which would lift them above their current place. They believe they cannot get enough money together to make it happen because everyone knows it takes money to make money. More often than you may believe, this person is just chicken of being an egg.

How often is the retired person saying, “I have no choice.”? They are not. In fact, this person is creating a choice. If the cards are played appropriately, the person working for someone else could become part of the retired person’s business, making both situations better.

Answer

The fact is we all have choices. All choices have consequences. Making choices means taking chances.

When you say you have no choice, you really are saying:

I am not willing to take the chance because the only thing I can see is the possibility things could be worse than they are right now before they get better.”

Before those words come out of your mouth, take some time to learn something. Someone you know may have an answer. It may not be an easy answer. It is worth listening. What are you willing to do to make this year better than last?

Opportunity may have knocked at your door so long with no answer it left a post-it. Time has come for you to call the number and learn where your package is.

Until next time,

Red Signature

How long does it take you to break (or scrap) resolutions? Are you chicken to become an egg? Can you think of one situation in your life where you can stop saying I have no choice?

Hashtags: #resolutions #choices #empowerment

© Red Dwyer 2013
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40 Comments

  1. Momma, 2012 is a year for you to be proud of, and I’m proud to be one of your 250 new followers. Congratulations on all your successes and I’m hoping for the fruition of your future endeavors! Take care, Sage
    Sage Doyle recently posted..I Dared To EnterMy Profile

    Reply
    • I am so very glad you are here as well. There is much to come in 2013. You have a some wonderful things this year as well. I want them all for you.

      Reply
  2. Around 1984, I resolved to never make another New Year Resolution.

    Only resolution I ever kept…

    Happy New Year Red and All the M3 Followers

    MJ
    MJ Logan recently posted..The BogMy Profile

    Reply
    • Not a bad resolution to have kept. A very happy new year to you as well. I am looking forward to seeing your opus this year.

      Reply
  3. Where’s my package, oh where’s my package?

    Red, this is a great post. What wonderful things you’ve accomplished this last year – just brilliant. Congrats 🙂

    I’ve saved your site to bookmark, & plan to roll by, see what’s on order when I have some time.

    About ‘have no choice’ – yeah, you have summed it up. Though, though… I so value being able to pay the rent and not be homeless, I’m just chained to the day job (seemingly).

    Great post & great positives.
    Noeleen recently posted..Trust?My Profile

    Reply
    • For many, the “day job” is a necessity. In it, though, one must find satisfaction or it dwindles the part which can rise above to the goals and aspirations which are wholly satisfying. I shall see you ’round; I am quite certain. xxx

      Reply
  4. “Total 20,911 comments (1,400 over estimate)” Seriously you predicted 19,511?
    Bearman recently posted..Zombie BearmanMy Profile

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  5. I no longer make resolutions. Too easy to disappoint that way. I think I could scrap the no choice mentality on 95% of my daily living.
    Lorre Lyons recently posted..If you give your elf some alcohol……My Profile

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    • It is really empowering to say, “I have the choice to tell you, I am not going to do this any longer.

      Reply
  6. Happy to be a new follower, although been a bit busy lately to be a good follower. Loved the choice analogy. We chose to be us, fully and completely. Debt free after some sacrifice and now able to chart our own course. We work for us now, not for anyone else and at some point will be able to just work when we need to and spend the rest of our time on ourselves. We are far from rich, so don’t think that. The key is to do as you say, make the choice and grab all the opportunities that life can give you.
    John Phillips recently posted..Song Of The Day – Ryan Adams – Chains Of LoveMy Profile

    Reply
    • Richness is a yardstick where we define the measure marks. While I may not have a large number of dollars in the bank, my wealth derives from fulfilling days and nights where I accomplish and provide and assist. Yes, grabbing life by the short hairs is definitely what makes it worthwhile. Glad to see you tonight, John.

      Reply

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