Archive for category: Blog Post

I bid you adieu 2013, you magnificent sonuvabitch. Can’t say that I’m excited to see 2013 go, because it was a great year for me personally. A lot of change, a lot of challenge, and a lot of growth. Didn’t accomplish everything that I wanted to, but I got a good amount of it done with some interesting goals to carry into 2014.

A significant amount of people — but less than you’d think, going by MOTIVATIONAL FACEBOOK PAGE #3423 — look to the start of the year as a chance to for a clean slate. Speaking from experience, you don’t need the beginning of a new one for that clean slate. It’s a mindset you have to take on, which will help you form habits that better yourself. Like the immortal snowball rolling down a hill, just start small until you can build it into something bigger, slowly yet surely. This was probably the most valuable lesson I learned in 2013, and what I felt shaped this year for me.

Aim big and be open to change. Recipe for (varying) success.

What’s in store for my 2014? Travel to exotic and potentially hot land(s); taking another stab at learning Spanish; giving the piano another serious shot; launching my pet marketing project here on the blog (more on that for you soon); other joys of adulthood like property tax and bills; and above all,  being a little bit more heady about where my career is going, which is the kind of thing that only comes with time. As you can probably guess, the rest of the list is fairly varied and kinda long. I expect to come up short in terms of achieving everything because of this, but who ever made a splash by playing it safe?

New journeys beginning, old ones ending, and a steady stream of surprises is a familiar recipe for most years but one that was embodied by 2013 — count on 2014 being in the same section of the cookbook. Although it’s early, get a start on those goals of yours because time is the only resource you’re constantly running out of. Try to stop saying no when you can say now.

With that, here’s me wishing you a rewarding and successful 2014 that hits higher heights than the last go-around.  As they say, out with the old and in with the new year. 

(Sorry — the subtitle IS bad puns, so you knew what you were getting into.)

– Mike 

PS — Would love to hear what some of you have planned for this year, whether they’re a resolution or not. Always interested in seeing what others are up to, so drop a line here or with the social buttons in the corner. Cheers!

Welcome to my new personal site!

After two-odd months of a bit of trial-by-fire web design, this little project is in go mode. It wasn’t without its challenges, but I’m glad over — mostly because I got more than just a website out of it.

Building this site reminded me of a few ever-valuable lessons. It  taught me  what it’s like to really stretch yourself again in areas you’re not insanely familiar with, and that you can be better at things than you think you are — perfectionist or not.

Above all, it was a great reminder that just like Harvard neurologist Alvaro Pascual-Leone says, the human brain is plastic, not elastic. You can’t force yourself to change or learn things immediately, but repeated exercises and reinforcement of your behaviour will help you mold your life and in turn, your skills. Pretty good fuel for tackling anything that at first glance seems a little daunting.

Best thing about this new site to me? I’ll be able to get a little bit more varied with it than I did on my old exclusively-weblog haunts. Full disclosure: some implementations are going to be rockier than others. That said, if I’ve learned anything in my relatively short yet diverse communications career, you don’t get anywhere without trying something — even if it means you have a bit of pie on your face to show for it. Expect this to become the hub for nearly all of my content whether it’s something I’ve made, want to share, or just find cool.

While I’m happy with what I’ve made, the perfectionist in me is not satisfied just yet. I’ve already jotted down plans for both behind-the-scenes enhancements and front-facing improvements to the site, and am working towards a little pet marketing project of mine that has a tentative go-live of early next year. All in good time.

In the meantime, I’d love to know what you think about the current look (my unabashed nerdy side is labelling it the Mark I). Any and all feedback is fair game. Drop me a line if you’d be so kind, either here or on Twitter. Cheers!

It’s a little unsettling just how many messages we’re bombarded with in a single day, much less over a few weeks or months. If I remember correctly from my office on wheels, I think it’s 55,000 on an average day? That’s a pretty penny’s worth of ad buys.

The shocking part about the bombardment that we face daily is that it’s not just from ads — it’s from essentially anything and everything we look at, including nearly every person we run into during our daily routine, including strangers. If you sit down and break down ow many messages and cues you take in on your walkabout, it’s probably pretty close to this Simpsons clip.

Well, I’m guessing it’s a little less painful, but you get the point. Messages are everywhere, and breaking through the noise — in a positive or negative way — isn’t  easy. This doesn’t just apply to things like ads, but it also works for anything where there are parties competing for a  relatively scarce objective or goal. Competing job applicants, rival products, competition hopefuls — the list goes on.

There’s a lot out there to cut through — how something sets itself apart, or defines itself relative to its competition, is key. Doesn’t matter if it’s people, products, or people products. Consider it a reminder to point out your niche and go after it.

– Mike

PS – I’m cutting through the noise pretty well on my bus, judging by the looks I’m getting. The looks you get when writing on the bus are pretty priceless. A little bit of confusion, a little  bit “look at that hipster doofus, thinking he’s better than me” (or so I infer). In any case, this format is working for me, and I hope it is for you, as well. Hit me in the comments to let me know what you think.

Well, this is new.

With myself finally being in possession of what my friend @the_JMoney would call a real phone, I’ve come up with a way to combine some downtime with content production – blogging on the bus (patent pending). Innovention, if there ever was any.

It should be a fun experiment at the very least, and something bigger and better at the very most. Insightful, if nothing else. I’ll use it (and good ole fashioned “normy blogging”) to chronicle the fast, efficient and tidbit sized goodness that comes along with a mobile blog. It’ll also be a good way to fill in some nooks and crannies of my foray into a) freelance copywriting, which I hope to start soon, and b) learning a new language via the Rosetta Stone (going to try my hand at espanol. Hurra. Which is Spanish for hurray).

All in an effort to make myself more well rounded and, well, all around better in 2013. Growth has gotta come from somewhere — who says it can’t be on a bus?

Lemme know what you think of the whole idea, or if you think my wheels are a little loose (2 out of 10 joke at best). As well, if you have comments about the world of freelance writing or learning a language, they’re more than welcome.

Till those wheels start spinning again,
Mike

P.S. – I’m totally in talks with Lionel Richie about making me a Magic School Bus style theme song for this blog. Or you can go to YouTube and listen to the original yourself. Whichever.

And for those wondering which real phone I got, I’m the proud father of a Google Nexus 4. This thing is a dream wrapped in candy cotton, champagne and bacon. So a pretty solid dream.