So my wife and I can scratch of one of the “Things TO DO in 2009″ from our list. We finally conquered the Rock Band Endless Setlist! No, this isn’t Rock Band 2 like everyone else is playing. This is Rock Band 1 for the 360. We’ve owned this game for over a year, but with two young kids it was just too difficult to find a 6 hour block that we could commit to playing this in one sitting. We’re weak too, we only played it at the Medium level. Again, I’ll blame the kids (because I’d hate to admit what my RB skillz are really at).
Sara played Bass and I played Guitar. We both play at Hard and sometimes Expert levels, but we decided to just play the darn thing finally because I didn’t have to work today. It was fun, exhausting, and ridiculous all at the same time. I can’t believe game designers think you’ll enjoy playing the same damn thing for 6 hours! Well, ok, we sorta did have fun. Going to bed at 4 in the morning and having young ones wake you up at 7 was less than fun though.
Next: We beat it on Hard. Once that happens we’ll justify purchasing Rock Band 2.
As I contemplate whether or not I should write a 2008 wrap-up post, I decided one thing for sure: I’m ready to get rolling with 2009! Just a few days ago I wrote about being resolute. Today I’d like to follow-up with the first step in how to be resolute: be passionate!
Passion drives everything. Period.
With passion comes recognition, respect, and personal growth. Your friends and peers will turn to you as the expert for what you are passionate in. You may even gain a small following, earn some extra income, and possible see that passion explode into a huge career.
Without passion, you might as well report to your 9-to-5 at that cubicle job or department store, pick-up your bi-weekly paycheck, cash it at the check cashing store, and promptly find the nearest bar where someone else will be paid to hear how bad your life sucks. I know a lot of people fit that mold. If you are one of them, BREAK OUT OF IT ALREADY!
How do you break the mold and start being passionate about something in life. Well, for starters: START! You don’t need to be perfect, you don’t need to “wait until I…” or “will start as soon as I…”. No! You can start now!
I took this note to heart as I wrote my first blog post of a project that I’ve waited all too long to, um, start. The title? It’s simply called Get Started. It’s very appropriate here as well, as publishing websites is one of my deepest passions. I love the process of brainstorming and concepting a site, registering the domain, installing my CMS of choice, launching the site, and seeing it become successful. I may lack some detail follow-up work, but I’ve identified that weakness and know how to overcome it. But most importantly, I’m not letting that weakness stop me. I hope to follow my tried and true formulas with IncomeHacks and all my other projects I plan on starting this year.
That post is also relevant because it featured Gary Vaynerchuk. For those who don’t know Gary Vaynerchuk, he’s probably the most passionate person about wine that you will ever see. He’s the host of Wine Library TV. In my post on IH, I talk about how he got started. It was pretty humble. He had a large vision for his internet broadcast when he started it, but I doubt that even he didn’t expect that it would become as wildly popular as it has become. If you watch any of his episodes, you’ll see that his passion for his business shines through in everything he says and does. Passion is the X factor. Wine Library would not have nearly the online presence it has today if it wasn’t for Gary’s passion on the subject.
As New Year’s day approaches, two things come to mind.
The first one is a U2 song…
And the second is the usual attempts at making a series of “resolutions” to change yourself and/or the world for the better. All of which end up in a miserable series of FAIL.
So this year, I’m trimming the fluff. I’m not going to list the annoying “I resolve to…” or “my resolution is to…” goals.
Instead I’m choosing to stand resolute.
Even though resolute is the root of “resolution”, it is a much more powerful word on its own. It means to have a purpose, a strong focus, to stand firm in something. It is something declared with conviction and firmness.
In 2009, I will be resolute towards one goal: to publish a website that makes serious profit.
[note: this will be in two parts, as my employer is making a serious website publishing play in 2009 as well]
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