Kevin Vogelsang

A tool doesn’t just make implementing a solution easier or possible: the tool defines the solution.

You want to write.  You are given a choice as to what paper you are able to write on.  You can write on post-it notes that you carry in your pocket, a small notebook you can carry in your bag, or a large hard-bound notebook that resides on your desk.  How will this effect how often you write?  How much you write?  What kind of things you write?

It comes down to our perceived costs.  These perceived costs are defined by the tool. If a tool makes one solution easier than the other, you’ll gravitate to the ostensibly easier solution.  It has a lower cost, it takes less energy, to implement that solution.  And thus, the product of our work and desires is affected.

If you only write on post-it notes that you carry in your pocket, you’ll likely end up writing down quotes, limericks, and little thoughts.  If you have a big piece of writing paper on your desk, you’ll write big things, but only when you’re deeply inspired.

And if you want to write, but are never deeply inspired, you’re better off starting with post-it notes in your pocket.  Thus, the tool not only dictates the solution, but whether there is an outcome at all.

It also dictates our behavior.

The implications of this thought run far and wide.  But you and I should probably let it stew for a little while first.  But if you have thoughts on those implications, you should probably write them down in the comments, before you forget.  Unless of course you have some post-it notes in your pocket.  Those work too.

Kevin
1.25.2010

Admittedly, I didn’t have a resolution ready when the calendar switched to 2010.  I somewhat mulled a few over earlier this month, but none really struck me.  They just didn’t fit.

However, while I didn’t have a resolution ready, I knew what 2010 was going to be about. 2010 is the year of the Hustle.

Establishing yourself in the world takes time.  It takes a lot of hard work and years to become a “somebody.”  Most 22 year-olds aren’t really “anybody”; they haven’t had time to do much of anything yet.  “It takes time. Be patient,” is the common reply.  Some might even say, “being a somebody isn’t important.”

I disagree with both wholeheartedly.  Patience is too close to complacency, and we should all want to be a “somebody.”  We should each have a vision for ourselves, a vision that we’ll need to work for and grow into.  That vision will be drastically different between people, but we need to have one.  The world runs on people making something of themselves.

With this in mind, I think my head’s in the right place.  I’m tired of being a nobody.  And I should feel that way at this stage of my life.

However, I wasn’t sure how to turn this into a good resolution.  At least not until tonight.

Luckily, before too much of 2010 had already come to pass, it came to me. Kevin Vogelsang’s New Year’s Resolution of 2010:  Make 80% of the Days an Absolute Masterpiece.

Any goal should have criteria put in place so you can tell if you achieve it or not.  So what does it mean to make the day a “masterpiece”?

As with many things, it comes down to what you can say to yourself at the end of the day.  I’ve made the day a masterpiece if I can honestly answer the following questions with a ‘yes’:

Did I wake up and take the day on with enthusiasm?
Did I focus on the task at hand?
Did I seize opportunities (within my means) to help someone out?
Did I avoid wasting my time by worrying or harping on mistakes?
Did I take time away from my work for myself and for other people?
Did I appreciate the people around me so much that they felt the appreciation?
Did I learn something?
Did I celebrate the day’s triumphs?

A masterpiece is rarely the most dazzling work of art.  The Mona Lisa isn’t particularly exciting. But there’s an incredible density of substance within the strokes.

It’s the same with the day.  If anyone was to expect to wake up bubbling over with happiness and energy each day, they’d be foolish.  But no matter how you feel, or what you have to do, you can work real beauty into the day.

So how’s that for a resolution? Of course, a resolution ultimately means nothing without real execution.  But, setting the right goals is the key first step.  You can see how I do by following me on twitter (@KevinVogelsang).

-Kevin
1.17.2010