Nenkai's 2011 Goals

Embarassingly enough, Jennifer Grey and I are the same age. It doesn't look it. Enough said.

While I know I can't look like her -- check out those abs!!!! -- I could lose 20 - 25 pounds over the course of a year and keep it off with a bit of exercise.

I heard recently that for every 1 lb you lose, it's 4 lbs off your knees!

If you are the kind of person, or family, who will put money aside, in a disciplined way so that you do have funds available for that 'rainy day" then the Self Insured route might be a good fit for you.

However, what do you do about all the little stuff that happens? The "stitch in time saves 9" philosophy? - like a splinter you don't catch until it's deeply embedded and turns your hand septic? The wear and tear you put on your family as you try to handle your severe depression on your own without medication... and the mood swings of menopause... or the mood swings caused by painful headaches... or the golf games missed thanks to unattended plantafasciatis or whatever is that thing guys get in their heels? What about arthritis? What about all those little ailments you get used to when you simply don't have to? They're fixable, treatable, manageable?

I don't know what the answer is for you. For me, I've tried it for a year being uninsured, and I'd rather pay the freight to not carry the extra worry.

Yet, for some reason, when I look at my own stuff, It's hard to find a "sweet spot" in a paying marketplace. However, here's the theory:-

You take your Passions and Interests. In the second circle you add your experiences - not just work, but life and the stuff that's happened to you. You look to see where those two intersect and then see if any of those coincide with a marketplace where people are spending money.

Coz you could spend many happy hours online writing about your passions and starve! Remember, "build a better widget and they will build a path to your door"? That works for people inventing products/items. Rarely does it look like it works for those in the information marketing business.

And it's not long before I find I get sidetracked by bigger issues - like What's My Life's Purpose? This is prompted by my perpetual embarrassment that a lens I threw together back in 2008 on Michael Vartan, on a total whim, is frequently my top ranked lens! in fact, it's very close to being in Tier 1. I could take the time to push it over the edge into Tier 1, but why? I mean, he's a nice enough fellow, (I guess, I've never met him) but he's not a great actor, nor a man on an admirable mission - so why spend time on something so ...well, frivolous, and not particularly relevant to me, or my mission or anything! No offense, Michael, but this is how it is.

So, then, what is your life's purpose? Is it just as simple as "to leave the planet a better place than how you found it?" "To create children that feel loved wholly and know what it means to share love wherever you can?"

Thanks to Rocket Moms, I'll be adding lenses anyhoo. But this goal is a bit more complicated than just adding lenses. It's taking the new ones and the old ones in such a way that I push 2 into Tier 1, maintain the 4 in Tier 2 and add 4, and then add an additional 10 to Tier 3 while keeping the 25 there already sitting pretty.

It sounds a bit like The Parable of the Talents, doesn't it? I'm hoping - I mean, intending to approach my lenses, this year, in a mindful and strategic manner - as opposed to the "ooh, I like this" mode, so that they stand together and push each other up, by association and co-promotion.

Of course, when it comes to increasing traffic and stepping up in the rankings there are a tons of experts out there to show which set of steps you need to climb - (as you'll see below)