The Monday Post

It's Monday, so I suppose it's time to post something.

I shouldn't have that feeling, but I do.  Anyways.   I am on Thrive.  It's pretty awesome.  You should go check it out.  After a week, I've cut my coffee intake to about 1/3 of a cup per day from 1 cup per day.  And I actually gained weight.  I'm not as incredibly scrawny as I was.

So that's definite progress.

After reading something on LinkedIn, I started reviewing my goals twice daily.  I don't think I was spending enough time on them, and really they weren't even in the forefront of my brain during the day.  How can you possibly achieve your goals if you aren't focused on them?  When was the last time you looked at your goals?   I'm guessing it has been a while.  Probably right after you made them.

I did this with an Outlook calendar event.  I'm not sure this is the best way to do it, but it is definitely the most portable.  It is also the version that is likely to be with me at any given time.

Running out of time this morning, so...   I'll be back.

Content Production

A while ago, I was thinking about content creation.  And I was thinking that the ratio should probably be better than a 2:1 ratio of production versus consumption.  It was just some number that randomly popped into my head.  And the number sounded good, but that's...  quite unrealistic.

A production of that level would mean for every 2 pages you write, you would read 1 page.  Which sounds like a great idea, but I consume a page at about every 2-3 minutes.  Production of a page can take upwards of an hour.  So the time comparisons aren't really comparable.

And then you deal with esoteric subjects like measuring production of non-text info.  What about drawings?  Or 3D models?  You don't really consume 3D models.  You could consume drawings in the form of comics and cartoons.  But how do you measure progress on those things?  It's a good question.

So, rather than use absolute measures of production/consumption, I think the measure should be time spent.  I'm still convinced you should maintain a 2:1 ratio, but it's two hours to one hour.  Two hours of content production can produce different levels based on the media, but it still produces.  It also causes long term progress towards goals.

One hour of consumption allows you to get a more absolute measure.  Because really, it's all opportunity taxes.  An hour spent consuming is quite literally an hour you will never get back.  An hour spent producing is also, paradoxically, an hour you will never get back.  But it makes you feel a lot better to spend an hour working on something that will lead you to accomplish your goals.

Finding Problems

Based on some ideas I heard on a podcast, I’ve started writing down things that annoy me.  I’ve got two plans on this.  One, I want to know whether I’m focusing on issues that are important or issues that are completely out of my control.  But second, and most important, was that it provides a list of potential opportunities that can be fixed.

So to do this, you simply need to write down three annoyances a day.  You do this every day for 30 days.  After those 30 days, then you have a list of problems that you have the potential to solve.  What I’ve found is that I’ve trained myself to not complain.  And I’ve been trying to start this project for several days. 

But I drive around, and I work, and I run into things that annoy me.  And they piss me off for about 3 seconds.  And then I’m off again, without any remembrance of what made me mad.  So I’ve had to take special effort to both remember what pissed me off.  And I also have to take special notice to write down those things that piss me off.

 

Funny thing is… once you’ve trained yourself to not be so critical of the world, it’s hard to go back to be critical.  But those observations are just what you need to find opportunity.

Breakfast thoughts

As a person who is chronically scrawny, I find the weight gain segment of the market heavily under served.  Though the solutions to both weight loss and weight gain are simple, it seems like ten thousand books have been written on weight loss, and only 1 or 2 on weight gain.  I guess people see it as a non-problem.

I've been reading The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.  It's quite an interesting jaunt into the world of the highly improbable.  I've made it through chapter 5, and I'm beginning to agree with most of what he has written.  I'm guessing it's very easy to underestimate the importance of things the can scale.

The thought I had while sitting in church was fairly simple.  Maybe it's the one I should be paying attention to.

Are you working on a solution that scales?  If it doesn't, stop.  

Scaling is the only hope of financial explosion. 

Which, that fits correctly with everything else I've read.  It ties in nicely with Robert Kyosaki, and countless others.  The problem is a simple one: the employer only gets paid for the work they do.  If you want to get paid more, you have to put in more time.

The entrepreneur creates one thing that can be sold to many people.  The thing is created once, and then you sell it for as many as you can possibly make money on.  Because of scaling, your idea went from one to millions in a short period.  Your financial situation was thrown for a loop.  Why?  Because you realized a profit on your idea that scaled.

Anyways... the day is calling.

Time to go think of things that scale.

 

A New Beginning

It’s a new year and a new beginning.  What could I say about it? 

I’m not sure.  Because my current blogging status is based off whim, I really haven’t had anything to say.  Or at least I don’t think I have.  The problem with operating by whim is you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what you are going to say.  It’s time spent waiting for inspiration to show up.

Which is exactly opposite of what I normally teach. 

So maybe the answer is I should start talking about the complications and problems associated with trying to get something started.  But then, most of those are mental.  And the answer is “quit procrastinating” and do something.

It’s really that simple.

Whenever you get the idea, start then.  Don’t wait until the beginning of the week.  Start right then. 

Hopefully, you’ll get a small victory before the grind sets in and it becomes a lot like work. 

And if it doesn’t, happy grinding. 

The normal answer

I've been working like a crazy man the last couple of weeks.  Putting in hours the normal individual wouldn't consider sane.  But it's done.  Or at least at a temporary standstill. I started writing an article about the time spent.  It wasn't worth a shit.  I haven't moved on.

I started writing, and it seemed like a good thing.  Then I realized I sounded like a whiny little bum.

Too much "oh poor me".

And another part of me started speaking up.

"What would haji do?"  Do they care that you haven't slept in 36 hours?  Are you still sane?

When your friends die, what's your excuse?  Did you do your best, or did you roll over like a little bum?

What could you have done?  Why are you living a life of regret?  Grab the wheel and force the ship in the direction you want it to go.  Damn the torpedoes.

Quit making excuses.  Grab the wheel.  Put your back in to it.

And if it isn't moving, start kicking it.  Kick until it moves.  Make it move.

"Does haji care you had a bad day?"

"Does haji care you haven't slept?"

Move the damn wheel.

Make it move.

Haji will kill you and not think twice.  He will drop a bomb on your day and completely fuck your world.

Adapt.  Improvise.  Overcome.

Don't let that asshole keep you from your goals.

Don't be an excuse.   Be an answer.





Dedicated to 3/4 and 3/5.  The assholes that saved my ass in a firefight.  Because when I was weak, they were strong.

Ooh rah.

Useful Cisco Commands

Here's a collection of Cisco commands I still haven't been taught by Cisco.  But I learned through various other methods.

terminal monitor
and
term no mon
Terminal monitor is the answer to all remote diagnostic issues.  So when you ssh or telnet into a client, you then get the output you would if you were on site.  The only problem is that output occasionally drives you mad as you try to figure out the solution to a problem.  How in the world do you turn it off?  That's where term no mon comes into play.  It turns off console connections for after they have been turned on with terminal monitor.  Terminal monitor is taught in class.  Term no mon is not.

term len 0
Another terminal command.  The terminal length command tells how many lines of output to display when you hit a key.  But term len 0 has a special use.  Let's say you want to do a quick examination of the entire running config of a site.  How do I do that?

Using Putty, turn on logging.  I'd actually recommend setting logging to default so it logs every piece of output forever. Might be useful when you have other issues.  Next, remote access the system via telnet or ssh.  Next.  term len 0.  You now just set the terminal length to 0, so it will display the entire output without having to press a single key.  Guess what?  No more parsing crud out of text files.  You now have a complete running config stored in the Putty log file that only needs minor parsing.  No more removing typing, input characters, or what not.  Just open the file and remove the login/logout sections.

Next, exit.  Do not save.  No not write.  That way, the next time you log in everything will be just as you found it before.  No weirdness or strangeness.  Otherwise you might have to use term len 10 or something to that effect to put it all back together again.

monitor session 1 source interface interface_name/number
monitor session 1 destination interface interface_name/number
The only pair of commands in my list.  I've only used these commands on switches.  They might work on routers as well.  Not sure.  But here's the great thing about these commands: along with Wireshark, you can kick back and examine all the traffic going through a device in order to try and troubleshoot communication issues.  It's kind of like a programmable hub, but better.  And, you can monitor as few or as many ports as you want.  I'm sure there's limitations to the commands, but like I said, these are things I've learned that classes have never taught me.

So, there you go.  A short collection of Cisco commands that seem to make life easier.  Or get rid of terminal monitor after you start it up.  Hope it helps.