He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. — Clarence Budington Kelland
Today is my first father’s day. Jess & Elijah made me a great coffee mug that I’ll be using every morning. They are the best family a man could ever ask for.
I also want to thank my father today because he is truly a man of patience, integrity, and honor. He was never really a person of many words, but the way he lived his life has inspired me.
Thanks Dad.
Today I was pleasantly surprised and humbled by a blog post from one of our industries most innovative talents, Allan Branch. It isn’t always about you… it’s about those around you.
I encourage you to follow his example and write a post today about two (or more) people who have been an inspiration to you.
Mark Priestap and Nate Ritter are two people who have definitely been an inspiration in design & life.
Mark’s super clean design & his passion for the Lord have definitely made an impact on me. He has an eye for color that is incredibly unique. Just take a look at what he did for Monk Development (FIGURE 1).
You can see that Mark is passionate about what he does, and has been an inspiration to many. Thanks Mark!.
Nate is one of those guys that goes out there and gets it done. Our goals are very similar and seeing him accomplish some of them has been a real encouragement.
“He told me, ‘Just pay it forward.’ Three big favors for three other people. That’s it.” — Pay It Forward
As most of you know I’m exploring the interesting [read: scary] world of PPC Affiliate Marketing. I’m finding out that a lot of affiliate marketers are in need of some serious design help. Why not be the one to do it?
This is nothing new by any means, but it’s more-or-less an experiment in putting ideas into action.
I introduce you to (LP)Vault. (LP)Vault is a cost-effective landing page solution for affiliate marketers. It will provide targeted templates and custom design.
This site will also feed work into another project I’m working on that will help to support the local freelance community. More to come on that later.
Give your idea’s some wings. The investment is always worth it, whether you find success or not.
My wife Jessica & I celebrated our 2 year anniversary this past monday by enjoying a quick trip to Newport, RI. The goal of the trip — Dream Building.
We’ve started to make this somewhat of a tradition now. Taking a few days over our anniversary to just get away.
Newport is especially great because of the old-town feel, and great food (The clam pizza at the RI Quahog Co. is amazing). The massive newport mansions don’t hurt either. It’s so incredible to see the amazing detail that they put into these houses, and to think Rosecliff sold for only $21,000 in 1938.
This year was slightly different — it was Eli’s first “long” car ride. This little guy has got to be the best kid ever. He was so good for the 6 1/2 hour ride.
Overall, a great trip. Highly recommended!
As I mentioned in A step of Faith, June marks the anniversary of many milestones, and tomorrow, June 2nd, is one that has truly changed my life.
“Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench when there is plenty of room at both ends”
Two years ago I became one with the most amazing person in the world. She is beautiful and caring, honest and loving, a wonderful mother to our child, and absolutely perfect for me. Thank you Jessica for being my completer.
Last year for our anniversary we decided to go to Newport, RI on a whim and are continuing that tradition tomorrow. It’s such a wonderful time to just get away and enjoy God’s amazing creation.
See you all in a few days!
I’ll admit it, I’m a huge fan of the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”. I’m amazed by how some of the people on that show can move. What amazes me even more are the ones who can’t.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
— Proverbs 11:2
During last nights show there were a number of contestants who stormed out of the auditorium. They shut down, and wouldn’t take in anything that the judges put out. They gave excuses. They argued.
The one thing they didn’t do was listen.
When someone with years of proven experience in an industry offers you advice, take it humbly and apply it — Don’t argue. Don’t get upset. Just move forward.
This coming month marks the anniversary of many milestones in my life. From buying our first home to finding out that we were going to have our first child.
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”— Walt Disney
I was eating breakfast with a few friends this morning and was reminded that you can’t steer a boat if it’s not moving. That made me think a lot about how far I’ve come over the past year. June 1st will mark the one year anniversary of my journey into independent design & consulting.
Over the past year I’ve learned that you need to keep moving. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, every step you take will help you grow.
I encourage you to take a step of faith today. If you’ve been sitting on an idea, go out and do it. If you’re waiting for the “right” time, stop waiting, the time is here.
A month or so ago I decided to pick up some Field Notes Brand notebooks and start writing things down instead of trying to store them in my head.
What an amazing difference it makes! I’ve been able to clear out idea’s and get much more accomplished just by developing this one simple habit.
I’ve been just sticking this thing in my back left pocket along with a pen, and making sure that if I hear or think of anything I want to remember, to just write it down.
The pretty much sum it up on the field notes website with this quote;
“I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.”
Someone once told me that if you want to see where you’ll be in five years, just look at the books that you read, and the people you associate with.
These are just a few of the books I’ve been enjoying lately. What have you been reading?
If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, Of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?
— Albert Einstein
I’ve never really been very organized. My files are a mess, and my desk, even worse.
I finally decided to do something about it a few months ago when I discovered a handy little tool called Things. Although Things won’t tackle the pile of papers on my desk, it does help with the stuff in between the ears.
What I like most about Things is it’s simplicity. It has very little built in structure, allowing me to use it how I need and not how they “think” I need. The developers at cultured code did a wonderful job at removing everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary, and have crafted a wonderful user experience.
I’ve been using the software for a little over 3 months now, and have received a lot of questions on how I use it, so I figured why not write a post about it!
Inside of things you can Collect, Focus, and Organize your tasks. The true power of things lies within it’s tagging system. Each day as I add new to-dos using the quick entry dialog, I use a tagging scheme based off of Ian Beck’s example. At the end of the day I organize these to-do’s into associated projects and/or areas and decide which to-do’s should be focused on the following day. Projects are sets of actions that correspond to a particular objective, whereas Areas (figure 2) are ongoing interests, which may never be completed.
I can then use Today focus in the morning to give me a list of all the to-do’s for that day and then filter the to-do’s by each tag.
Although it takes some discipline to get into the routine, I’m finding that it’s well worth the effort. No harm in trying, right?
Copyright © 2008, Kyle Sollenberger