Observations

I generally can’t stand awards shows but I laughed at this.

I use 2 tools on an almost everyday basis that have changed my life.

Twitter

At first I was hesitant to use Twitter. The whole idea of micro blogging seemed like a gimmick that nobody needed.  But I have come to realize Twitter is not so much about Tweeting yourself, but rather following important people in real time.

It gives you the opportunity to follow famous or highly influential people and be on the cutting edge of the latest news and research. I use Twitter to follow people who spend their whole lives dedicated to a topic I am interested in.

It’s a way to hack your life somewhat.  You can take advantage of the knowledge someone else discovered through lots of trial and error and reap the benefits!  Having a convenient Twitter app on your phone is so handy when you are simply waiting on life, waiting at the bank, waiting for a train, or waiting for a meeting to start.

You can stop wasting time and start learning something that could change your life in a big way.  Get a Twitter account right now and follow these people to get started as there is very little dribble and mostly packed full of useful information…

Kevin Rose (founder of Digg.com, Tea Enthusiast, Host of Diggnation, Host of the Random Show, Host of Foundation)
Tim Ferriss (NYT Best Selling Author of the Four Hour Work Week, and The 4 Hour Body)
Dr Weil MD (Founder of Integrated Medicine, author of articles on Huffington Post, restaurant owner, author)

You can see who else I follow on Twitter, by clicking that link or following me.
(Although I don’t have much to Tweet about)

Everyday I get a stream of interesting links and articles to read, so much so that I have needed another tool to keep track of everything.  Which brings me to…

Delicious (or other social bookmark website)

I find stuff everyday that I find interesting but most of the time I don’t have the time, or the mental capacity to remember a “book recommendation” or interesting “Christmas present” or bottle of “Wine” that I should try.  That’s why social bookmarking is the way to go.   Say for instance someone you are following on Twitter, or a friend of yours recommends a book to you.  If your like me, it takes you a month (or longer) to read a book and in that time, you will lose that book recommendation on a little piece of scrap paper somewhere on the back of a billing statement that you threw away last week… probably.

God knows you could bookmark it in your browser, but chances are that will get cluttered really quickly and then what do you do when you want to look at that bookmark when you’re at work, or on a cell phone? 

This is where social bookmark sites like Delicious kick ass.  You simply click a button in you browser and it stores the page your at on Delicious.com to your account, which you can access from any web phone or computer.  ANYWHERE.  You also can tag it with a word, in this case I tag it as “books”.   Now when I finally finish my first book, I can log into Delicious and click on the tag “books” and up comes 18 more that I found interesting enough to save.  It’s super handy for keeping track of books you want to read, movies you want to watch, documentaries that are interesting to you, Christmas presents, health information and articles, stuff you want to buy, and so on.   You can also check mark the bookmark and mark it private so that only you can see it.

It’s so useful to keep track of everything, I have no idea why I didn’t embrace this 6 years ago.   You can see things I have bookmarked, here… http://www.delicious.com/justinrueth

I love this guy.  I follow him on Twitter, and read his blog weekly, and have read 2 of his books.  He is a wealth of knowledge and has spent his life studying nutrition and different diets from all over the world, and offers tons of very useful advice on health for free on his website.  He believes in eating specific foods or obtaining certain nutrients to cure disease in a natural way.

He is a leading doctor in something termed “Integrative Medicine”, which looks at all forms of medicine from all over the world whether prescription drugs, recreational drugs, or natural foods or even sunlight and suggests the one that will help cure you of ailments.  He was brought to my attention by following Kevin Rose (founder of Digg.com) and he has changed the way I look at food, and medicine, and has sparked my interest in nutrition, and antioxidants (cancer preventers) over the past 6 months or so. Also the guy rocks a beard!

More information on: Dr Weil’s Website, Weil Blog, Twitter, and Vimeo.  Dr Weil is also a contributor for the Huffington Post, read some of his articles here.   For the record I have read/watched all of his articles/videos.  This guy has changed my life.

It wakes me up and shakes my bones
It makes me miss my friends
You wasted days, I hung my head
I wore these blinders
So I’ll hide from you

You can hear the sound
When walls break down
You wasted my days
Building on shaky ground
You can’t carry on
When walls break down
Such wasted days
Building on shaky ground

Sitting face to face, tides will rise
Our light is in your eyes
We will be heard, our voice is strong
You shamed yourself
And we’re done with you

This is your life you led
This is my life you bled

These tides sweep us out of reach

This is the latest song I have heard from Cannibal Ox that I love. (Thanks Last.fm!) This song sounds like it contains a sample from Blueprint – 1988 another song that I really like.

Here is a song, I discovered on last.fm.  Not normally the type of music I listen to but it’s really growing on me, and it has been played over 10 million times on the You Tubes.  Give it a listen.

Another song I like by them is, The XX – Islands.

Goooooooooooooooaaal!  Nope, not that kind of goal.  I am a little slow to this one. But I decided to set more goals this year since I actually accomplished a few from last year.  Last year I was most successful when I laminated and posted on the inside of my notebook, looked at them often.  I am going to try to do that more this year and hang them up in more places.

NEW GOALS

Health
Go to the farmers market at least 6 times this year
Lose 30lbs
April-October:  Walk/Bike 1 hour per weekday
Avoid fast food unless on the road
Drink at least 2 cups of tea weekdays
Drink a glass of water with a meal at least 3 times per day
Take a Multivitamin at least every other day
Take Vitamin D, and Fish Oil weekdays
Always eat breakfast
Stick to protein supplements for at least 2 months
Make sure 3 meals or snacks contain 1 fruit or vegetable
Drink at most 1 caffeinated beverage per day (tea doesn’t count)
Cut back on soda to not more than 1 can per day
Lower salt intake
When tired, get sleep or drink B Vitamins / Matcha instead of Caffeine
Continue to buy organic food whenever if it is available
No eating or drinking anything but water after 7pm

Lifestyle
Save money every month
Travel to Milwaukee
Attend 2 sporting events
Go to a Minnesota Wild game
Go to a Concert
Read or listen to 5 books
Go discing at least 5 times this year
Go discing at Blue Ribbon Pines
Get a better paying second job
Be more punctual
Donate at least $20 to 2 charities
Volunteer somewhere at least 1 time
Update blog 52+ times this year
No cigarettes this year – not even 1

Character
Record meals, weight, diet and workouts
Keep my apartment cleaner
Hang up my clothes
Try meditation
Eat Chinese food with chopsticks only
Go out of your way to help someone

Other
Pay off car
Save money after paying off car or put in towards student loan debt
Start a business, or find another source of income
Open a ROTH IRA
Buy a book
Learn how to do 2 things you didn’t know how to do last year
Look at this list of goals once per week

——————-

LAST YEARS GOALS
(Time to be accountable.)

Health
Lose 50lbs by November 1st
April 1st – November 1: 30mins walking, 20mins biking weekdays
No more eating out at fast food places.
Drink at least 2 cups of tea per day
Drink a glass of water with a meal at least 3 times per day
Take a multivitamin daily
Always eat breakfast
Eat 5-7 SMALL Meals/Snacks per day.  (every 2.5-3 hours)
Make sure 3 of those meals or snacks contain 1 fruit or vegtable
Drink at most 1 caffeinated beverage per day
Cut back on soda to not more than 1 can per day
Lower salt intake
Take vitamin D during winter months
Take vitamin B6 and B12 and drink matcha instead of sugar and caffeine
Buy more organic food.
Bike to pine island
No eating or drinking anything but water after 7pm

Lifestyle
Buy another lamp this year.
Buy another plant
Buy a desktop computer
Try to buy a laptop (bought one, thanks Tom!)
Visit Chicago
Go to at least 2 different sporting events (went to a Packer game and Twins game)
Go to a concert
Read or listen to 10 books (only read 2)
Get a library card
Go discing at least 2 per month
Go discing at Blue Ribbon Pines
Get a better paying second job
Be more punctual
Set all clocks to the same time
Develop routines
Try matcha, buy a matcha set
Donate at least $20 to 2 charities (ACLU, EFF, NORML)
Volunteer somewhere at least 1 time
Go see Bound for Severance again
Update blog once per week (I was close  this year!)
Floss more

Character
Buy more black clothes
Develop a personal style
Carry a journal/notebook
Carry a backpack to work
Keep my apartment cleaner
Hang up my clothes