2016 was a fantastic year for me. I started my blogs, entered the next phase in my career as a business architect, and welcomed a beautiful baby girl into my life. I look forward to 2017, and like most people, I am setting my own version of a New Year's resolution. As my regular readers know, my recent focus has been on the works of Scott Adams, and we've covered Trump's hypnotic techniques and the power of affirmations in former posts. Finishing out this trifecta of posts, I want to cover one final piece that correlates well to my 2017 New Year's resolution: cultivating systems over goals. What this means is that I'm going to focus on things that make me better overall that don't necessarily have a measurable end. This is a little different from what I've done in the past. I've set goals like losing 100 pounds, getting my Master's degree, and getting certifications like my PMP. Don't get me wrong, these are noble goals for anybody, but ...

In a recent podcast episode of the Adam Carolla Show, host Adam Carolla interviewed Bryan Cranston, Megan Mullally, and James Franco following a screening of their new movie, Why Him? Being a comedy podcast, Cranston and Mullally were more than willing to go along with Carolla's antics. They were very positive and upbeat, and I could tell the crowd was enthralled with them. Franco, on the other hand, was... disengaged. I'm trying to reserve judgment of the actor since I don't know what he's like on a regular basis. Maybe he was just having an off night. But it was pretty clear he was just not into it. His answers to Carolla's questions were pretty straightforward, and Franco took no action to put any comedic spin on anything he said. That's a problem.

I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of Scott Adams. Best known for his comic strip, Dilbert, I have run into his other work twice now that I've found very fascinating. The first was his assertion that Donald Trump used hypnotic persuasion techniques to capture the presidency, and I covered that in a previous post . The second interesting idea is analyzed in his interview with Tim Ferriss. I am currently reading Ferriss's new book, Tools of Titans (review in progress), and Ferriss mentions Scott Adams' second idea briefly, which prompted me to immediately listen to the full podcast interview. What's that second idea?

One of the best things about living in Bloomington-Normal is the diversity of restaurant choices we have to choose from. Want one of the big chains? We've probably got it. Nice local restaurants? Yup. Italian, Chinese, American, Thai, and Indian places? Check. Ironically, one of the worst things about living in Bloomington-Normal is, you guessed it, the diversity of restaurant choices we have to choose from.

As you're probably aware, I recently started a new role as a business architect for State Farm. It was a big move for me, and one that I was naturally proud of. I was excited to share this big news with my family and did so immediately via a group text to all of them. Being a caring family, they all responded kindly. But I really haven't heard much praise or approval from them since. Naturally, they're more excited about the baby coming, but it almost surprises me how little they've talked about this career move with me. Don't get me wrong, my family absolutely does care about me, but this isn't wholly out of the norm for them. A lot of this stems from my mom who always pushes us to be better. If I got all A's and one B on a report card, she'd focus on why that last B isn't also an A. Again, this isn't because she's a mean person but rather that she wants the best for us. We all need that person around us. If we're getting fat, we n...

Psychology is an interesting thing. Interesting in the fact that it doesn't always align with what seems like common sense. We, as humans, are more apt to act out the the experiences of our past than to avoid them. The son of the alcoholic dad becomes the alcoholic dad. The girl who was raped sexually abuses a child as an adult. Naturally, it's hard for me to understand because I have not lived through this. In my mind, I would think that one would do everything they can to avoid becoming the monster they once encountered. Sadly, that's not true in many cases. There is good news, though: we are not condemned to make the same choices as those who have wronged us. We can take a stand and choose to be better.

When I was a junior in high school, I dated a girl in her freshman year. She was an interesting gal in the fact that she was big into horror movies. It so happened that weeks after we started dating, the third entry in the Saw  series ( Saw III ) was just coming into theaters. Given that she was too young to purchase a rated-R movie ticket herself, she asked me to take her on a date to see the film. I wasn't excited about seeing it myself, but hey, when you're 17, you'll do anything to impress a girl. I knew my parents would be mad with this prospect, so I didn't tell them. I can't remember the lame excuse I used to not say I was taking my girlfriend to see a rated-R movie. In my brain, I thought there was no way they'd figure out my con.

If there's one thing I struggle with most when writing these blog posts, its knowing how long to make them. If I make them too long, I risk the reader losing attention. On the other end of the spectrum, making them too short runs the risk of not explaining something thoroughly enough. In most cases, I think making them shorter is probably better. Pretty much everything life is better when its shorter, hence why I'm labeling "brevity" as a key competency.

I'll be honest: I'm kind of surprised I'm writing another one of these posts. I have already written two sets of five tips on how to run more effective meetings (that can be found here and here ), and I keep finding even more tips. Apparently, there is no end to handing out meeting tips! Without delaying anymore, let's just get into it.

Here in the land of the free and home of the brave, we are taught this idea of the American dream at a very young age: work, and you will be rewarded. That idea of a "reward" is generalized to having a decent job, getting paid a decent wage to raise a family, and retiring around the age of 60. This group aptly became known as the middle class. Over the last decade, pundits have lamented the loss of the middle class. People are no longer staying in the same 9-to-5 job forever, and salary distribution is all over the map. These pundits long for a day when we can get back to that generalized idea of a middle class. One that our fathers grew up on. But what if I told you that middle class is never coming back? Moreover, what if I told you it is being replaced by a newer, better middle class?

The holidays are just around the corner, and you know what that means: seeing the friends and family you love and adore. Well, mostly. We all know people that we have to see but really don't want to see. Family members who ask for money. (Thank goodness I've not had that problem.) Friends who talk endlessly about their woes. (Been there.) Coworkers who share a little too much about their personal life. (Always a disaster.) Just for the fun of it, here are ten things you should probably not say at any holiday get-together! And yes, I do have personal experience with some of these. 

The Amazon Kindle Fire tablet is $50 and often goes on sale for cheaper than that. You can get free wifi almost anywhere, including most McDonald's locations. The best email platforms, Gmail and Yahoo, are free . Almost all social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, are free . My blog is hosted on the Blogger platform, which is free to use. If you have a library card, you can probably checkout digital ebooks for free via Overdrive. Apps like WhatsApp allow you to make calls to people for free . Interacting with people on social forums like Reddit is free . The barriers to entry have been lowered significantly. You don't have an excuse why you're not making yourself better anymore.

Along with a job change naturally comes a re-thinking of personal finances. What do I do with my 401k? Do I want to consider new financial avenues given that I'll also be having a baby soon? Should I move some of my savings into an IRA?  I am not a financial savant, by any means, so these questions baffle me equally as much as they would the next person. I wish I could tell you what to invest your money in that would give you the absolute most return on your investment. Then it hit me: I'm pretty sure I know what the best investment is. The one that will give you the most bang for your buck. It's a little unorthodox, but I think you'll agree with me in the end.

As an avid listener of The Tim Ferriss Show  podcast, I listened to a recently uploaded episode complementary to his new book Tools of Titans (review incoming) that covered a number of tough questions he encouraged everybody to ask themselves. One of the questions he shared was, "How would you run your business if you were only allowed to work that business two hours a week?"

Cash is king. I have to start of the post this way because I'm not a fan of credit, especially credit cards. It enables people to do dumb things with their money (or lack thereof), and people drive themselves into piles and piles of debt. It's a hole you can very quickly dig yourself into. That said, credit is a necessary part of life. Albeit, an annoying one. There's no such thing as "good credit", only bad credit, and bad credit is like that annoying relative who reminds you about that dumb thing you did at every holiday event even though it took place decades ago.

I have an M.A. in Organizational Leadership. I also have my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Add to that two Scrum Alliance certifications, an ITIL Foundations certificate, and a Six Sigma Green Belt and you've got a ton of letters trailing after my name in my email signature. If I'm being totally honest... I don't really care about any of them.

There's no doubt that the outcome of the recent election had arguably the most divisive outcome in American history. People have not been afraid to voice their anger and concerns about Trump's election on social media. From what I've seen, the most vocalization has come from the left, and I honestly haven't seen a lot of overt support from the right. (That's another topic altogether.) What has quietly gone unaddressed is another issue that has stemmed from the election: a Christian civil war. As somebody who cares for the church, this something I definitely think needs addressed sooner rather than later.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I'm not an uber-Hunger Games fan. I tried reading the books and honestly couldn't just get into them; however, I did enjoy the movies quite a bit. While they weren't nearly as quotable as the Harry Potter series, there was one quote that did stick out to me.  You'll have to forgive me since I don't remember the precise context, but at one point in Catching Fire , the character Finnick Odair remarks to Katniss that he isn't necessarily interested in money. Rather, he is interested in trading secrets. That quote stuck with me because I think that when people think about "getting paid", they instantly think about money and that anything that doesn't involve money isn't "getting paid". I think that line of thinking isn't necessarily correct, and let's get into why.