Hi everyone. Well, I don’t have a book review today, do I? I don’t think so, but I can certainly … I’m almost finished with this one. It’s really, really good. There’s a lot of really great advice in here and exercises that you can follow to change your outlook and think about what you’re doing and really be mindful of how you’re spending your time. It’s very important these days because it’s too easy to get distracted by all the wrong things. I have spent a little too much time and a little too much money on webinars that ultimately end up sounding the same and I don’t think we need more of the same. I think we need something different.
I’m getting ready to try some different things, hopefully things that will make a difference for me financially [and healthwise—I keep forgetting] and will make a difference for you time-wise, life-wise, maybe even financially. I’m not a person who can guarantee anything in the way of results other than you may feel better about yourself afterward. At least that’s what I hope.
I also have this book, which is really, really interesting. what if? 2 by Randall Munroe He’s a number one New York Times bestselling author. Well, how about that? Join the club. Let’s see. I just like the concept behind this book. The first chapter says, the title is, “What would happen if the solar system was filled with soup out to Jupiter?” Amelia, age five, presumably asked this question. Well, Amelia, “[P]lease make sure everyone is safely out of the solar system before you fill it with soup. Indeed. If the solar system were full of soup out to Jupiter, things might be okay for some people for a few minutes.
“Then for the next half hour, things would definitely not be okay for anyone. After that, time would end.”
Something to think about. Are we filling our atmosphere full of soup? I’ve never thought about it quite that way. Ask somebody at the EPA, maybe they can fill you in or maybe not. I don’t know at this point what they’re doing at the EPA. I used to work there and I used to think it made a difference or I hoped to make a difference.
Well, I don’t know, maybe. Maybe I did. I did write that incredibly long memo about TSCA [pronounced Tosca] [the Toxic Substances Control Act] preemption that got a lot of praise at my going away party with a little tape that I’m hoping got somewhere that I can’t find because I had it at one point and now it’s gone. I hate when things like that happen. I have a Nirvana T-shirt that I swear. Never left the house except on my back and I can’t find it. Oh, well, it’s where all the missing socks are, right?
Okay. Having said that, it’s time to try some different things and so some things will be changing. I’m going to be shutting down something that I’ve been spending too much time on.
I have to focus my attention on a place where I seem to be getting the most results. And right now I love Patreon, but there are things on Patreon I like to follow actually. It really started with Girl in Space and I think the story just spoke to me so much that I just said, “Oh, I got to get in on this.” But it’s so difficult to choose sometimes because I go on Substack, I set up something with my published books. You can access books that I’ve published behind a paywall. The first five or seven chapters are free. But I mean after that it’s kind of like, why am I giving my stuff away? You devalue yourself when you just give the stuff that you sell for a living away willy-nilly. That’s just wrong. That just doesn’t make sense.
Every attempt I made and I made a couple of attempts to use Amazon’s Select thing. I would do the five free days or whatever it was. Skyrocketed. Free. It’s free. I’ll take one. Do you suppose anybody read any of those things they gave away? Probably not. Many of them probably didn’t read them. And of course, Amazon picked up a customer along the way and will not give you anything in the way of their contact information. Of course not, they’re Amazon’s customer now, not yours. You’ve just given away a customer.
Okay. Well, having said that, let’s try something a little different. Oh yeah. I forgot to mention. I have a book out. I did not do a great big book launch, did I? No, the book is just out and I have to write something to my email subscribers and let them know. This is part of what it’s like to be a writer.
Really! It’s not like they show on TV. I got to tell you. It’s not like a lot of things that you may think it is. So anyway, that’s all I have to say. I really like this. What I’ve seen is this book so far. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get through it in time before I have to send it back to the library, but I would definitely recommend this one, How to Live A Meaningful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. Number one New York Times bestselling authors of Designing Your Life. It’s all about design. It’s all about systems. It’s all about showing up and doing the job and that’s it. Hopefully I’m sitting up straight. Thanks and I will be seeing you.
PS: The ebook is available at these online stores. for only $2.99. That’s good until June 23, when the price goes up a whole dollar.
The print book is coming. Of course!
Oh, dear. I think I hear the sound of a deadline whooshing by. 🙂