The December and this Post is about to look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011, together with many other people around the world who participate in the #Reverb10 Project.
Prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?
There are different communities online. I participated in many of them over the past few years. There was a time I was part of over 50 different social-networks — if you can call those communities.
But one thing changed over the past two years: I started to get rid of social-networks and there fore communities. I focused on just three (Twitter, Facebook and Flickr). That is something I think is very important. That way you can focus more. You do not have to keep up with all the different places and it is less time consuming. Even though you may loose some contacts over time.
Over the past year I have utilized especially Twitter and tried to build my blog and projects. The past month though I started to get Flickr right. What I needed to change to actually get some comments and views on there to build my contacts. That was through actually participating in the community. Not just thronging stuff in there and just pretending they will notice anyways. It is a hard way to get some acceptance and feedback. It is even harder to build relationships.
In private life that might be even different. But some things are the same. But what I like about the internet: is that I can get to know people of my niche faster. Some of which are just on the surface, some of which get deeper and eventually might end in real life friendship.
There is a long way and I am always open to new contacts, if you have any questions or any other interest: I am always happy about emails cspiegl@cspiegl.com.
The December and this Post is about to look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011, together with many other people around the world who participate in the #Reverb10 Project.
Prompt: Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?
To make is something I can not stop. I am always thinking about new things to make or to achieve. Sometimes new things, new projects. Sometimes new ideas for an already ongoing project. The last things I made have been photographs and the last big project I finished has been AIDvertisement.net. For those two things I mostly used my Macs or my Cameras. And some digital tools like Lightroom, Photoshop and Coda.
Making is something that makes me happy. Finishing even more! 2011 will bring many new things to the table as far I can see and it will be exiting since I will be able to actually get my hands on more stuff than I had time for over the past year. I will have some exiting stuff coming in about a year from now!
The December and this Post is about to look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011, together with many other people around the world who participate in the #Reverb10 Project.
Prompt: Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?
There are many things this prompt makes me think about but there are many which I am not going to write here in all the public internet. But I have my take on this which I think I am ok with sharing.
It is one thing to think about this prompt from a personal relationship matter. But it is an other to look at it form a internet relation ship basis.
I tend to admire some people online about what they do and what they accomplish. Many of which I try to get everything they publish online. I try to get to know how they accomplished their goal and how I can replicate that process.
This year I let go some of those things. I was reading their stuff online, I was following them on twitter and spent hours on that. I let go those very shallow ‘relationships’ to spend time with either real-life relationships or to spend the time on what I think is more valuable: own projects.
Other things I let go:
- Many things I read in the RSS like for example big Apple news blogs
- Many unnecessary Twitter people I just followed but did not actually want to read
The best about letting go is that it most of the time is not as hard as you think. You just need to take the first step and move on.
The December and this Post is about to look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011, together with many other people around the world who participate in the #Reverb10 Project.
Prompt #4: Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year?
Side-Note: This prompts are keeping getting harder to answer. But it is challenging and that is great!
About the Wonder part: what made me wonder what cultivated a sense of wonder?
My current wonders are looking out of the train in the morning while driving to school, listening to some great music and having nothing to do till I get to school (somedays I have to study in the train). Especially in the last few days where there was such a great amount of snow everywhere and the reflections and glittery feel of it.
But there much more things that made me wonder of which most are related to people in my life. Some new people came into my life this year which is great and I am enjoying the change that slowly starts. Some other people slowly disappear and some others get more important. It is change all around me and there are very interesting moments to come in the future!
The December and this Post is about to look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011, together with many other people around the world who participate in the #Reverb10 Project.
The prompt this time is Moment – remember a moment in 2010 and its smells, texture, voices, noises and colors. I am having a hard time doing this. There are so many moments in my life but I can not remember one in depth. At least I am not able to chose.
The moment to be described this time I chose the travel to spain. It has been the first time I traveled for a three week trip on my own. The time I spent at the transit airport — over 3 hours — have been a thoughtful experience. I sat down in some area where I found many seats and actually I was able to lie my self a little and relax. I listened to Ich bin dann mal weg: Meine Reise auf dem Jakobsweg by Hape Kerkeling
(Affiliate). Mr. Kerkeling normally is a german commedian. But with this book he describes his way and the experiences he had during the time he spent walking the Way of St. James. He quiet hit me with that and I enjoyed listening to the book but what is more interesting about this moment was that I decided over the course of the listening — I actually needed some more days to finish — that I will do that walk too! This is the first time to mention that on the internet. After I finished school the start of my after school life will be introduced by this massive walk over 800km (500miles).
I remember that time sitting in the airport listening in some way as a change time. Manifesting my way for the future.
The December and this Post is about to look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011, together with many other people around the world who participate in the #Reverb10 Project.
The prompt this time is to find something that stops you from writing. Since writing is not exactly what I need to focus on right now I do some changes to this prompt: I call it:
What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your school stuff — and can you eliminate it?
Well there are many things that I do which do not contribute to my school stuff. And I am in need to get rid of some but I am already in the process. I am getting rid of reading RSS (I do it once a week only). I am getting rid of constant Twitter checking, the constant need to check email and stuff like it. But still it seems not to be enough. It is most about discipline. It is about not spending time on useless stuff that barely gets me satisfied. Like for example browsing Amazon for new stuff to buy which I can not afford right now. That is what I want to eliminate.
I will eliminate the browsing for new stuff. I will bookmark the ideas, but not search deeper. It should be that simple!
The December and this Post is about to look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011, together with many other people around the world who participate in the #Reverb10 Project.
Blocked
I have chosen this word to describe the year 2010 because it describes my situation and how I feel my self sometimes. I am blocked. A little bit by my self and most of it by the school system. I want the highest general education degree possible in Germany and I have the possibility to write it. How it will turn out is an other question. The thing is: I have to many other plans and ideas. Things I like to do better. Things I think I need to get done to stay on top of the news and to stay in the flow with the technology and stuff. So that I do not loose track. That blocks my school work. Which essentially than worsens my marks in school. But in addition it also is bad for my feelings. I am never pleased with my self. I always search ways to not do school stuff which than makes me feel bad. The second thing that is blocked is through the school. The school blocks my dreams. I have some plans I would like to work out. I want to go the freelance route and to go in all in! But I feel like I can not do that as long as I do not have this degree. Overall: I need to stay in this till Jun and than I can start what I want to.
Change
Is the word I would like to be the word of 2011 for me. It represents drastic changes in my personal life, professional life as well as my location, people, thinking and feelings. I have some great thoughts and ideas for 2011 and I will to accomplish them—there is no room for: might! Even though the change already has to start from the beginning. I have to change my attitude about school a little and be more disciplined. So the changes are:
- One: do only school till june! (no big other projects or stuff).
- Two: do my stuff and change a lot in life after June!
That is it for today. Prompt 1 of #Reverb10. I am exited about the next one tomorrow!
The December and this Post is about to look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011, together with many other people around the world who participate in the #Reverb10 Project.
Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what’s happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we’ll do both.
This December we invite you to share your story and join us in reflection.
How to participate
Prompt Starting December 1, check in here for daily creative prompts (some of which will be from published authors). You can also subscribe for complimentary inbox delivery, and watch for updates on Twitter.
Create Respond to the prompt. In a post on your blog, through a tweet, with photography, or however else you desire.
Share Participate and share your reverberations using the #reverb10 hashtag (on Twitter, Delicious or Flickr). Learn from the reverberations of fellow participants.
~ Reverb Website
It is that always have ideas in the wrong moment. Wrong by the means of I usually do not have the time to get down to actively produce what I would need to get them done. But I still do sit down and think about them. They are blocking my mind from the stuff which actually is important right now. The bad about this is that I have decided to finish this year of school. After that I have a time dedicated to my ideas. To try new stuff and to get down to things that I really like and enjoy doing. Even though that is against most of the social standards here in Germany!
Even though. This post is not about what I am going to do next year or anything like that. It is about what I am going to do this year. This year 2010 nearly is over. There are merely 1 month left which is filled with stuff you have to get done. For example you need to get some Christmas presents for family and friends ready. Focus on time with friends and family. And finish the last year.
The focus on this post is on the ‘finish the last year’ part. I have had a lot of todos over the past year. Many of which I actually got done. Some of which got canceled and some which are still undone. The thing is: with only one month left you can not focus on all the unfinished things. You need to focus on the important parts. The following is about my plan how to handle the last month of todos:
I hope that gave some insights about how I try to focus. If you have any ideas what I could do better please contact me via email or Twitter.
One more book I read throughout this year is Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Handsson.
What I noticed throughout the books is that they are all in the same direction. Delivering Happiness, Proglogger, Crush It, the 4-Hour-Work-Week. They all want to point to the direction of getting back to some point and deliver a service, not just focus on money and best case: make money at the end with you having fun doing what you need to do to make that money.
Rework is no different. It shows how to focus different workflows, how to manage a company and try to keep low with adding new people to a company. This book I can recommend to entrepreneurs.
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