Several weeks ago I wrote the following in one of my weekly reviews:

Quote from Review week 39-2008:
On another note, there are several developments in my life right now. Good developments and very exciting as well, but I can’t break the news just yet. Keep following these updates and you’ll know soon enough. I’ll be setting new goals by then as well.

The next day one of my co-workers enthusiastically asked whether I was going to be a father again… That was NOT what I was thinking about when I wrote it. I meant something entirely different, however…

It was also true! If all goes well, I will be a father again in May next year. And I totally love it! Here’s the first “picture” of the little one:

It was amazing again to see the little one, and if you can tell anything from the images we saw last Friday…this is going to be a lively one as well! He or she was moving around a lot and waving arms and legs. It wondrous to be able to “see inside” and witness your developing child inside the womb. Although Jesse (our son) couldn’t care less, he just wanted to open the door to the hallway again, that’s his newest trick: opening and closing doors.

That was a happy moment for us and we needed it. Pregnancy isn’t always fun you know. My wife is very sick from being pregnant. Imagine morning sickness, only all day long. Eating has lost all its fun, because she needs to eat when nauseous and right after puking her guts out. If she doesn’t it only gets worse. No fun at all.

She’s very thankful and happy to be pregnant again, but she feels awful. She had the same when she was pregnant with Jesse, so it wasn’t really a surprise (although we hoped to skip that part this time around). It stopped at 14 weeks pregnancy then, so if it’s the similar this time she should feel better in about a week from now. I surely hope so!

In the past few weeks, running the household has been my responsibility though. We used to have a 60-40 distribution (yeah, she did more), but now with a 15-85 distribution the weight is primarily on my shoulders. And then there’s some additional care for my wife, especially preparing food and bringing it to her. So I do whatever I can to get us through this part of the pregnancy. But it leaves little time or energy for other things (but that doesn’t stop me from trying…).

The frustrating part is that there’s not an awful lot I can do to make her feel better. All I can do is support her, and help her. When I bring her breakfast in bed for example (which is like every day now), she says “Thank you. Blegh…I’m nauseous. Yuck…I hate that food.” Which is pretty much a mixed message, don’t you think? Am I doing her a favor? Or am I tormenting her with food?

Anyway, I we will be very happy when this phase of the pregnancy is over. So we can enjoy it the rest of the time. And so the distribution in the household can normalize again. Like I said there’s little time and energy left. That doesn’t keep me from working on my ambitions, but it is keeping me from writing about it.

P.S. I have an article published in the current edition (vol 2 ed 2) of “Personal Branding Magazine“, about productivity pitfalls in personal branding. If you want to read it, you need to buy the magazine ($12.95 for 4 editions). And you’ll get interviews with David Allen, Gary Vaynerchuck and others as a bonus

This post is my contribution to Blog Action Day 2008. Last year thousands of bloggers joined forces and focused on the Environment. Today the topic is Poverty.

Today I share with you a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The theme of the fairy tale is not poverty, but the context very much is. This story chokes me up every time I read it or see it in the Efteling theme park.

The Little Match Girl - Video (narrated in Dutch)

The Little Match Girl - text version

Translated from Danish by Project Gutenberg

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL

Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening—the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast.

One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin, and off he ran with it; he thought it would do capitally for a cradle when he some day or other should have children himself. So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing.

She crept along trembling with cold and hunger—a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!

The flakes of snow covered her long fair hair, which fell in beautiful curls around her neck; but of that, of course, she never once now thought. From all the windows the candles were gleaming, and it smelt so deliciously of roast goose, for you know it was New Year’s Eve; yes, of that she thought.

In a corner formed by two houses, of which one advanced more than the other, she seated herself down and cowered together. Her little feet she had drawn close up to her, but she grew colder and colder, and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any matches and could not bring a farthing of money: from her father she would certainly get blows, and at home it was cold too, for above her she had only the roof, through which the wind whistled, even though the largest cracks were stopped up with straw and rags.

Her little hands were almost numbed with cold. Oh! a match might afford her a world of comfort, if she only dared take a single one out of the bundle, draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by it. She drew one out. “Rischt!” how it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light. It seemed really to the little maiden as though she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at top. The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully. The little girl had already stretched out her feet to warm them too; but—the small flame went out, the stove vanished: she had only the remains of the burnt-out match in her hand.

She rubbed another against the wall: it burned brightly, and where the light fell on the wall, there the wall became transparent like a veil, so that she could see into the room. On the table was spread a snow-white tablecloth; upon it was a splendid porcelain service, and the roast goose was steaming famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums. And what was still more capital to behold was, the goose hopped down from the dish, reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast, till it came up to the poor little girl; when—the match went out and nothing but the thick, cold, damp wall was left behind. She lighted another match. Now there she was sitting under the most magnificent Christmas tree: it was still larger, and more decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door in the rich merchant’s house.

Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily-colored pictures, such as she had seen in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when—the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she saw them now as stars in heaven; one fell down and formed a long trail of fire.

“Someone is just dead!” said the little girl; for her old grandmother, the only person who had loved her, and who was now no more, had told her, that when a star falls, a soul ascends to God.

She drew another match against the wall: it was again light, and in the lustre there stood the old grandmother, so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love.

“Grandmother!” cried the little one. “Oh, take me with you! You go away when the match burns out; you vanish like the warm stove, like the delicious roast goose, and like the magnificent Christmas tree!” And she rubbed the whole bundle of matches quickly against the wall, for she wanted to be quite sure of keeping her grandmother near her. And the matches gave such a brilliant light that it was brighter than at noon-day: never formerly had the grandmother been so beautiful and so tall. She took the little maiden, on her arm, and both flew in brightness and in joy so high, so very high, and then above was neither cold, nor hunger, nor anxiety—they were with God.

But in the corner, at the cold hour of dawn, sat the poor girl, with rosy cheeks and with a smiling mouth, leaning against the wall—frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. Stiff and stark sat the child there with her matches, of which one bundle had been burnt. “She wanted to warm herself,” people said. No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen; no one even dreamed of the splendor in which, with her grandmother she had entered on the joys of a new year.

How you and I can make a difference

All of today’s proceeds of the blog will be donated to Kiva. Kiva is one of the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending websites, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

So if you have been pondering about buying my eBook, the time to act is now! You’ll get the joy of reading my eBook, make me happy to have another reader, and as a bonus you’ll make a big difference in the life of a small entrepreneur in a developing country, working hard to create a better future.

Every other week I review the past two weeks. The contents of this review may vary, but among the returning topics are the performance figures of this blog, my progress towards my goals and my experiences with productivity systems and habits.

Here I am sitting with my laptop on the couch, trying to come up with a good beginning for this bi-weekly review. I’ve tried several already, but I can’t seem to find that one that describes the madness that the past two weeks have been.

Got some credit?

Of course there’s the madness that the credit crisis is causing on stock markets around the world. It’s been interesting to watch how the numbers kept on plunging towards deeper and deeper levels. Fantastic! I like serious change, and it’s happening all around us. Mind you, I don’t own stock, so I basically lack the emotional effects a lot of people will feel. If this is you, I’m sorry for your losses. I don’t know what you should do either…

I have learned two things from this crisis so far. First of all I have learned a lot (big events tend to invoke a need to learn in me). I have gained more understanding about the foundations on which our financial system has been built, and why it’s shaking on that very foundation right now. If you’re interested in that, check the 47 minute video “Money as debt” for a starter. It’s a great introduction into the banking and monetary system.

Second, I have told a lot of people that a part of me likes it that the economy is weakening while I’m moving towards entrepreneurship. It’s when the going gets tough that quality arises, so if I can start in bad times I’m going to make it through all cycles. It seems that the universe has upped the ante by pulling the magic credit crisis trick from the big hat. My plans haven’t changed, my attitude hasn’t changed, but the challenge is even bigger now. Bring it on, I say!

Today I’m running towards…

…the exit? Neh, towards the finish! That’s what I’ve done today. I finished my running goal this week.
Click to continue »

Know thyself
~ Plato

Now that’s some sound advice: “Know thyself.” Thanks Plato! Hey, you’re probably right as you’re universally seen as one of the most influential philosophers of all time. But why such a short quote? Why does it feel like such an open door? Why is it important? And why is it so hard… Know thyself. Do you know yourself? Will you ever? Man, this short quote raises so many questions, psychological questions, philosophical questions, existential questions even.

I sure didn’t know where to start. Knowing yourself seems like a wise thing to do, like powerful knowledge. I mean, if you - of all people: the one that spends 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year (and then some) with you - don’t know who you are. Who on earth will?! On the other hand, you probably know lotsa people that think they know you, really know you. And you know they’re wrong most of the time…but incredibly right at times. Frustrating stuff.

Self-discovery

Hi! It’s me.
Hi me, nice to finally meet you! What is it that drives you?

Getting to know yourself can be quite fun. You could do a virtual self interview, but for most people that’s too strange to even ponder doing. Thankfully there are a plethora (I always wanted to use that word someday) of ways to do it easier. Let me provide you with some links:
Click to continue »

On Sundays I’m looking back on the past week. How did I perform towards my goals? How did my blog do? And how am I keeping up with my productivity habits?

As I copy and past this blog post from the previous one, I can’t help but notice that the above section isn’t quite true anymore. For a couple of months now I haven’t been reviewing every week. Both online and offline, because those are pretty correlated. If I don’t do a review online, I did not do a review.

I’ve got the feeling that this review is gravitating towards a biweekly rhythm. And that would match up quite nicely with my todoodlists, which have a two week focus as well. You know, I’m going to decide right now to make this a biweekly review from now on. Let’s see how that works out.

Blog performance

Average daily subscribers:	1143	( 13)
Average daily visitors:	357	( 80)

The moleskine captures did well on StumbleUpon. I thought that was pretty enlightening, a regular post would not have done quite as well. I may just use this tactic more often. I like writing in my Moleskine, and if that type of posts appeals to readers and visitors, it’s a win-win situation right?

I know it’s bad for SEO, but I don’t mind. I’m not here for search engines, I’m here for people. And if they find me through social media that’s perfect! And by the way I learned some tricks for SEO and images in SEO School, a hands-on eBook by Naomi Dunford of Ittybiz. She previously took it off the market, but as of today it’s available again.

I already knew quite some things about SEO, but Naomi added quite some marketing knowledge and advice to the book. That part was particularly valuable for me. I haven’t really used it on this blog yet, but I used quite a lot of it for the mini-site for my eBook. It was very valuable in for setting up that site and the book has paid itself back several times already.

If you have a blog or website, and SEO is still a mystery to you, or you could have some hands-on marketing advice, SEO School is the eBook to check out. It’s available for $39, and if you use the links from my blog you’ll split your money evenly between Naomi and me. Thanks a lot if you decide to do that!

Progress towards goals

Again, I haven’t trained as much as I would’ve liked to. Downgrading my goal to 6 kilometer, sensible as it may be, is not helping in keeping my motivation as well. I know I can run the 6 km, as I already did that last week as a training run. All I need to do is keep it up in the two weeks that remain to the event.

After that I’ll have to find another way to keep up with the vitality habits. Vitality is one of my important values. It’s not one of my core values, but more of a prerequisite value. Without vitality a lot of things are just not as fun anymore. But I’m digressing, I need to find another way to keep up the vitality thing. Soon it’ll be too cold for me to run outdoors. No, I’m not a wimp (okay…sometimes I am), but I get asthmatic symptoms if I exercise outdoors at low temperatures. And that ain’t a lot of fun.

On another note, there are several developments in my life right now. Good developments and very exciting as well, but I can’t break the news just yet. Keep following these updates and you’ll know soon enough. I’ll be setting new goals by then as well.

And although it’s not a goal (and as such should not be in this section) I’m still enjoying playing the guitar. My fingers are getting used to pushing the strings, and I’m getting experience in some of the basic chords. Currently I’m practicing on a Spanish guitar, which makes some of the chords really hard because the neck is quite wide. And my hands are not that big… which is frustrating at times. In the guitar store I noticed that regular guitars and electric guitars have a much slimmer neck, so it will get easier once I get my own guitar (I’m borrowing this one from my brother). And I might start guitar lessons in a few weeks.

Productivity Habits - weekly review

Not that much to say in this section. The amount of work is increasing though, both at work and at home. I need to make sure that I don’t fall off the wagon on this one, because it’ll pile up in backlogs in no time.