“How do I know what I think, until I see what
I say.” E.M. Forrester

I’m a thinker. My wife just smiles and nods now each time I share with her one of my new ‘ideas’ or tell her, “I want to [blank].” She’s learned that I'm usually just spouting off some fanciful new idea I’ve got and in a week or two I’ll move on to the next big idea. A few of these ideas stick over time, but as of late I’ve noticed these ideas beginning to dwindle.

I was finding myself not capable of putting together an entire thought; struggling to hold onto a concept and formulate a viewpoint of my own. This was frustrating to me, because for so long I have known myself (or thought myself) to be a decent thinker and capable of formulating well-organized thoughts.

I’ve never been a great impromptu speaker, and even those occasions that appear to be the result of some sort of great ‘off-the-cuff’ moment, more often than not are actually the result of many days worth of thinking and mulling over a concept until I feel confident enough in it to present it at the appropriate time.



That’s why I hate phone conferences or negotiating in person. Give me a few moments to collect my thoughts and put them on paper (or email) and I usually surprise myself at what comes out.

However, as I began to notice this ability declining, I started to analyze what I was doing differently before all of this started. The culprit? Twitter. I seriously had this epiphany, believing that twitter had ruined my ability to formulate a thought that was longer than the restricted 140 character limit. I spent most of my free time rummaging through my twitter feed gathering snippets of information here and there, clicking on the occasional article and skimming the headline and first few paragraphs, then quickly returning to the feed to catch up on what I had missed in those few short moments.

Okay, so Twitter isn’t entirely at fault. In fact I was able to pinpoint three areas of my life in which I knew I had slacked in recent months (even years) and could very well have aided in the decline of my ability to keep up a healthy mind. Which brings us to this article and this blog which is the mark of something new; something I’m hoping will aid me in keeping these resolutions and restoring a vibrant thought-life.

1Read 10 books in 2010.

I grew up as a reader. For as long Some of you may laugh at 10 books in an entire year but...[that's] still 10 books more than I read in 2009. as I can remember, I’d spend each night reading at least one chapter of a book, often times more, and usually until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. In recent years tho’, I had completely stopped reading entire books.

Some of you may laugh at 10 books in an entire year, but the way I look at it is a little less than one book a month and still 10 books more than I read in 2009. I’m not trying to break any records here, just want to read more. They’ll probably be business and design books, but I may mix a novel or theology book in there just for the fun of it.

2Write one article a month.

Another culprit was most definitely writing. I kept pretty detailed journals while in college, and I think this helped offset the decline in reading, but for some reason that discipline quickly faded upon graduation. I could note any number of causes for this, but to keep it simple it was just a loss of focus, and I look back on those years of not journaling and feel as though I'm missing a piece of my life.

In order to keep me writing more I’ve started up this blog which I hope will be an outlet for me to shareI look back on those years of journaling and feel as though I'm missing a piece of my life. some of these new thoughts with whomever might stumble upon them, as well as to add a bit of beauty to the thoughts through design. I’ll reserve my opinions on web blog and magazine style web design for another day, but hopefully this will be a place that inspires others both visually and mentally.

3Lose 20 pounds.

What list of new year resolutions would be complete without some sort of weight loss goal? In 2008 I received the grim news that if I didn’t change my lifestyle I’d be forced to go on blood-pressure medication, and at my age that just wasn’t an option for me. So I dropped 40 pounds, cut out unnecessary eating habits and received a clean bill of health.

Well, this article is all about how I’ve slacked in recent months, and you guessed it, I’ve gained back 10 of those pounds I worked so hard for, and still could stand to lose 10 more. Getting in the gym and off the couch will cut-out time in front of the ‘boob tube’ as my parents used to say and hopefully rejuvenate a healthy physical and mental lifestyle.

Here’s looking to 2010, and a whole lot more than just a bunch of 140 character quips and phrases. (Though I’m sure there will still be plenty of useless banter to get us through to 2011).

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