Up in Chilliwack we’re experiencing an odd winter. Way less rain than normal and it’s so much warmer than normal as well. Not quite t-shirt weather, but certainly only a sweater and you’re warm enough.

We recently did an experiment with our kids and cut almost all the screen time for the week. Our youngest two especially (2, 5) had a fairly decent change in behaviour. This is something Cynthia and I will talk about in the coming weeks and share with you.

Progress on The Freelancer’s Guide to Niche Marketing happened so we’re on track for that March release. I need to keep making research and writing progress and in the beginning of February need to finalize the cover so I can throw up a proper landing page. For now if you want to get your Freelance Business on track in the marketing department and get the best price on that book subscribe here.

If you’ve found my content helpful then new in 2019 I’ve opened up a Patreon page. You can help ensure that more helpful content keeps coming.

I Shipped

Monday was a long post and video recapping my 2018 and talking about how 2019 will be different. How did 2018 go for you? What changes are you making for 2019?

Wednesday I put together a video on meal planning and talked about how it saved us so much work the following week alone because we got so sick. We even took some of the food to a friend last night because they seem to have the same thing we had and are in need of some support in the form of food being ready for them. Meal prep is a great way to trade just a bit of time today for a month of less work.

On Liquid Web I wrote about Gutenberg and WooCommerce. Just after we published it there was an update to WooCommerce Blocks so I’ll have to revisit this for Liquid Web in the coming weeks.

Friday Five

1. A Good Look at our changing ideas of dad

From daddilife:

In 2018, among a slew of statistics about the changing realities of fatherhood, it was revealed that dads spend three times more time with their children than their grandfathers did.

And

Research finds that dads are just as likely as mums to say that parenting is extremely important to their identity. Dads are also doing more around the home, as well as more in terms of childcare.

I know that we have an almost 50/50 split in child rearing with my wife working 3pm and on most days of the week then us both being around all weekend.

I still am annoyed sometimes at how dad is pictured, but overall we’re heading in the right direction.

If you’re a dad looking to start taking your family as serious as your work, then I’d love to help you do that.

2. My dream schedule?

From Farnam Street:

Consider the daily schedule of famed novelist Haruki Murakami. When he’s working on a novel, he starts his days at 4 am and writes for five or six continuous hours. Once the writing is done, he spends his afternoons running or swimming, and his evenings, reading or listening to music before a 9 pm bedtime. Murakami is known for his strict adherence to this schedule.

Yup this is an older one and it was first written about, to my knowledge, by Paul Graham. The first paragraph almost caused my heart to skip a beat because it sounds like the perfect day to me in so many ways. Get up early, be creative for a number of hours, then get outside in the mountains.

Now to keep making my day more like that through 2019.

3. Justin on letting go of cynicism

From Justin:

When you’re feeling down, and you see someone else succeeding, it’s hard to open yourself up to their point of view. But that is the very thing you need. You need healthy habits. Changing your mindset (and then your behavior) is the only way to improve your situation.

I’ve certainly been on the end of being less than charitable to someone else’s success. Remember, if you choose to be negative every day, then you’re reinforcing negativity. If you choose to be positive and happy, then you’re reinforcing a happy person.

What type of person do you want to be?

4. So you want to write

Or really, do anything well Kris Gage has a thought when someone asks him what the secret is:

And right as I start to wonder if they Might Be On To Something Here, I go check their post history, and half the time I see that they rarely write. So I then I point out this “fantastical mystery” (reminder: it’s “write”) to them, like “uh. yo dawg — the most important part of writing is writing so, like, are you even trying?” — an “insight” that leaves them awestruck and me wondering how they even function day to day.

Yeah, do the damn work. If you want to create great YouTube videos, or podcasts, or write books then start. Do some of the work and try to improve. Pick out the parts that didn’t go well and then try to fix them.

There really isn’t a secret, except for maybe that you’re damn lazy and are looking for excuses to not do work.

5. Making a business niche change

Great episode of Live in the Feast talking with John Locke about his transition to SEO for manufacturing. Take note he started this over a year ago to see results. It takes time people. You will not be an overnight success.