The beginning of the year makes me think of change and growth. What do I want to change this year? How do I want to grow? It reminds me of that all-important lesson I learned years ago: to always be doing something which scares you but is good for you. To constantly be stretching.
In 2009, I stopped practicing a martial art I’ve been learning for the last 10 years to learn a new one. It scared me, but forced me to grow. In 2010, I focused on photography, pushing myself to go out and shoot, sacrificing vacation time and early mornings to it. In 2011, I learned how to cook. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but it was for someone like me who had no idea how to cook.
What’s something you can do in 2012 which scares you but is good for you?
Like every year, I did less and more than I thought I would in 2011.
I visited New Zealand for the first time, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life. I flew up in a helicopter and landed next to a pristine mountain lake inaccessible otherwise. Its beauty took my breath away. One of the highlights of the year, as well as my life. If there is a Heaven, it probably looks like this.
I lost my first car, a classic 1991 BMW E30. I loved little 20-year old Snoopy, and my dad was especially attached to her. Her gear-box had died and it didn’t make economical sense to repair her. My heart still aches a bit when I see old photos of her.
I got engaged during a lovely, happy weekend getaway.
I unearthed my purpose: “A life on purpose is one of fulfillment through growth and appreciation. It is a life of artistic expression and courageous exploration, inspired by love, wisdom and honor.”
I learned how to cook, both healthy and not so healthy dishes.
I revisited my friend the monk in Thailand and filmed an interview with him there. It was the fulfillment of a couple of dreams, and a risk taken on a new one. The final video interview isn’t perfect, but I’m proud of it and I gained more from the trip than I could have imagined beforehand. Thank God for dear, frank friends who pushed me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to do it. Read More →
You’ve never seen Life Coaches Blog look so good.
She’s gone through a complete redesign, thanks to the Currents WordPress theme from WooThemes. This is how she used to look:
The previous, third-generation design of Life Coaches Blog.
This is how she looks now:
Life Coaches Blog, redesigned.
Why Revise a Dormant Site?
But you might wonder why I bothered revamping the site, since I’ve shuttered Life Coaches Blog since 2008 and have no intentions to continue posting there.
Over 100,000 Visits in 2011
The main reason is that Life Coaches Blog still gets a good amount of traffic, even though it’s nowhere near when the site was still active. On average, Life Coaches Blog received 11,816 visits per month this past year. Posts like What You Didn’t Know About Bruce Lee’s Kick-Ass Success, 9 Keys to Overcoming Difficult Times and Getting Your Life on Track remain popular.
Besides these three articles, there are over 500 personal development posts still freely available on the site. But the previous design of Life Coaches Blog didn’t showcase the wealth of articles very well, it simply showcased posts in a reverse chronological order.
The new Currents theme changes that, the home page layout shows you more posts at a glance across multiple categories, not just the most recent but also the most popular, recent category posts and highlighted posts. This should help new visitors find interesting posts around the site more easily. Read More →
I write every single day. It’s my day job. But because I write every single day, there are days when I reach home, and the words dry up when I want to write for myself. I don’t know if an exhaustible well is an apt metaphor for the creative writing process, but it feels like that to me. Perhaps it’s a matter of stamina; some writers – like some runners – have more stamina than others, whether it’s a matter of born talent or a trained resource. Or maybe it’s simply a matter of a choked dam, and all I need to do is wait for the dam to break.
Paiboon’s video is going to take even longer than I hoped. A rough cut, about 1/3 of the way, has been done, but I realized I know a lot less than I need to about video editing, so I need to take some extra time out to re-learn a few things, and then to head back to editing.
That little announcement I promised nearly a month ago is also taking longer than I’d hoped, but things are moving along and I’m certain its launch shouldn’t be too far off.
In the meantime, 21 Dragons has gone through some minor design tweaks here and there. There’s a new About page with a photo of me posing pensively. The Archives page has received a usability boost thanks to the Clean My Archives WordPress plugin. The text font has been changed from serif to sans-serif, and I’m using a single font face for the entire site which should help it look cleaner. Read More →
