After reading Christine O’Kelly’s ebook titled “How I Built a Profitable Freelance Business for Under $50 … And How You Can Too!” and reading Dave Navarro’s post ” Christine O’Kelly, I’m Talking To You!” I was inspired to give it a shot too. I am currently working full time as a professional Flash developer / Actionscripter fore more than 5 years and I have been looking for means to earn a little extra on the side. My reason is simply this… I would like to have a little extra savings for my future and also to have extra cash to help clear my debts a little quicker. So over the next 30 days, I will attempt to follow Christine’s advice to see how well it goes.
Reading Alexander Kjerulf’s book 3 times made me feel like I’m on the verge of a breakthrough. Each time I read his book made me feel like this in his introduction.
Happy at work.
Happy? At work?
Happy… at work?
I really did wonder if it was possible to be truly happy at work in my own personal work situation. When I started reading, the idea of being happy at work sounded like another “be positive and everything will be fine” concept. While I agree that having a positive attitude plays a vital role, it is always easier said than done. When I started reading, I picked out the easiest and most practical things I could do at my work place. Check out chapter 2 on “What makes us happy at work?” and chapter 9 on “How to make yourself happy at work” for some ideas on how you can begin making a change.
Here’s a brief idea of what things were like before I read Happy Hour is 9 to 5. I work as a Flash programmer at an ad agency that has great benefits and pays really well. I say that because as far as I know, what I earn is easily 20-30% above market rate. I work with an amazing group of colleagues who are talented and passionate about what they do… and the results we produce are just astounding. They are the nicest people I know and always willing to lend a helping hand when needed. My role there is solely as an Actionscript programmer while doing a little bit of design and animation occasionally. However, about 6 months into my present job, I found that I was no longer happy with what I was doing. I thought something must be wrong with the company or my environment. So I started looking for faults and problems… thinking if I knew what was wrong, I could avoid it. The result? I was less unhappy… but I was neither getting happier nor improving my situation. This was clearly in alignment with Alex’s thinking about how happiness is something you need to do and constantly work at. Avoiding situations or tasks that make you unhappy doesn’t work… I’ve tried it and I know better now.
I was desperately seeking answers to improve my situation and came across Happy Hour is 9 to 5. After my first read, the first step I took was learning to be positive. I’m not a naturally positive person ( my wife can testify to that )… so the first step was definitely not that easy for me. I started by being thankful for what I currently had… a good paying job, nice colleagues, and very understanding bosses. I reminded myself to be thankful each day before and after work. Amazingly, things seemed to change gradually. I didn’t notice it but I was starting to feel happy before my work day started. What was interesting was that my work was also starting to improve. My efficiency improved and I got my work done faster than usual.
While feeling the excitement that things were improving, I moved on to step 2 which is to learn. While thinking about what I wanted to learn I discovered that I preferred to learn something other than programming. So I came up with a list of things I would love to learn in 2008. From learning to draw to watching training videos to reading books, I invested as much time as I to learn something each day. I found that I was more energised and felt happier after I had taken time to learn something I was genuinely interested in. So I spend my best hours learning new things and I had fun doing so. Of course, my priority was still my job and I would ensure things were still done in due time. Ok, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’ll share more about my experience on this new journey in my future post.
Reflecting on the past week, I have to admit that nothing went as planned. I hardly made any progress nor met any of the goals I had set out to do. I usually plan out my weekends to get most of my goals completed. However, my life does not revolve around goals or my hobbies or career or even all the things I have planned to do. Fact is everything else revolves around the life I’m living. Being married to an incredibly talented and capable woman does not make things easier as other people tend to notice her abilities… her school in particular. She has been assigned… 4… 5 posts?? I’ve lost count as they keep assigning more roles and responsibilities for her to handle. I’ll post more details at a later date in my other blog, The Romantic Blockhead.
I think what I need to do is to have more of a monthly review rather than a weekly one as random things tend to happen inevitably. Although I did not get anything done over the weekend, I have to say it was certainly a fun and warm time spent with my in-laws and their extended family. Helped my parents-in-law look for a new place to rent, went for my cousin in-law’s house warming dinner on Saturday, and finally for a barbeque dinner with the extended in-law family on Sunday.
Okay, back to my weekly review. I’ve almost completed my re-read of Alexander Kjerulf’sHappy Hour is 9 to 5 and will be writing down my thoughts as I read hisbook again the third time. I’ve managed to watch another 2 chapters of Scott Robertson’s tutorial DVD on basic perspective form drawing. That’s about all I’ve managed to get done the past week. Here’s to a great week ahead. Thanks for dropping by.
I have decided to do a weekly review of my past week to keep track of my progress and goals I am striving to achieve in 2008. Overall, things seem to be on track and I’m happy with my progress so far although I know there is still a whole lot of room for improvement.
I have already read it once through and am reading it again. I hope to read each book at least 3 times to understand and grasp as much as possible from the book. Perhaps I will write a review at the end of each month.
So far I have managed to complete half of the training DVD covering 1-point, 2-point and 3-point perspective. While not the most exciting part of learning to draw, a solid foundation in perspective drawing is necessary to create more believable and convincing artwork in the future.
I have been drawing the human skull ( 1 per day ) for the past 4 days to complement the lessons learned from The Structure of Man anatomy training DVDs. Currently I am up to lesson 32, The Invention of The Spine - Part 1. You can check out the preview here. The techniques and lessons taught by Riven Phoenix in the DVDs are straight forward and easy to follow. So far I have found the videos very helpful and informative. Each of the formulas and techniques mentioned are simple and easy to remember (which is a good thing since the human anatomy comprises many many parts). Of course, it helps to have anatomy references to check and study if you desire to learn to draw the human anatomy more accurately.
My next post will be on “How I learned to love my wife… and still learning”. I am currently working on it and aim to get it up by tonight. Having deadlines helps to keep things moving in the right direction.
2007 was a blur to me with all my wedding preparations and adjusting to a my new workplace. While my wedding was the highlight of the year, it was also my biggest disappointment. Reflecting back on 2007, I realised there was just so much that I could have done to make things better. For one, I did not do enough to prepare for my wedding. My biggest mistake was taking things for granted and allowing my mom to shoulder most of the preparations.
I am a lazy person (that my wife clearly acknowledges), and as such, have a bad habit of leaving things I need to get done myself to the people around me. The only thing that I can say I did well was to surprise my dear wife with a song during our ceremony. I didn’t realise how surprised she was until she started crying as I began. Being naturally introverted, I fumbled on the words and was extremely nervous, but God knows my weaknesses and to quote my in-law Uncle Ari, “You must praise your God for the heavy rain and the microphone malfunction.” Our wedding day will definitely be memorable.
On to 2008. I had decided in December last year to make this year different and to make a commitment to put in the effort to change. So here are a few things that I have committed myself to do for 2008.
Also, I have picked 2 themes to focus on as my direction for 2008. They are ‘authenticity’ and ‘taking action’. Authenticity to be true to myself and my loved ones. Taking action to ensure I do what I have set out to accomplish this year… no more procrastinating or being lazy.
Glumpers!!! by studio MAKE is a brand new animated series online that is just fun and delightful to watch. So far there are 3 episodes viewable online. Each 30 second episode is so simple yet brilliantly done. My favourite characters are Quigly and Gobo. Check out the equally fun website here.
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. ~ Proverbs 16:3
Since starting my daily discipline of spending some time reading God’s word in the morning, I have begun to reflect more on my life and the way I have been living. The more I read, the more I realise that I have been talking more than walking. This verse in particular struck me as something that goes against human nature. Being human, I want more control over my own life so that becomes more stable and predictable. Safe to say, everyone wants security and they want things to go their way… after all, its human nature. Reflecting on this verse made me think of how I have been making my own plans and wanting my life to go a certain way. Read the rest of this entry »
A continuation on this topic. This time I was asked where does the bible say that Christians should not get involved with non-Christians. So here are a few references. It saddens me to hear of Christians using the excuse of wanting to “evangelise” to their non-Christian partner as a reason for dating them. It is simply selfish and arrogant of them to think that they have the power to convert a person to becoming a Christian. Why do people choose to become Christians? It is because the Holy Spirit of God convicts their hearts to the truth of God… not because of human effort.
As in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power,with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.”
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