If you're reading this you either accidentally stumbled on this page or you've already read my last blog post about integrity. Either way, welcome. If you haven't read my last article I'd suggest you start with that first before reading any further. That post can be found here. To recap, I define integrity as a degree of consistency or agreement between your thoughts, feelings, words and actions. I find it plain, to the point and accurate. Traditional definitions include notions of … [Read more...]

When you think of the word "integrity", what comes to mind? When you're talking with a friend about someone else and say "She's a person of integrity", what do you really mean? Are you saying that she is generally honest or trustworthy? That she can be counted on, or that you can count on what she says and does? Do you mean that she lives a good, wholesome life, however that is defined for you? Does she conduct herself in a moral and ethical way, in your opinion? Dictionary.com defines … [Read more...]

When was the last time you felt grateful for something?  Hopefully it was yesterday.  Hopefully it was this morning.  Hopefully it was a few minutes ago.  Hopefully you're feeling grateful now.  I've heard a lot about gratitude over the past couple of decades and the topic, the idea, the emotion of gratitude seems to be gaining attention, momentum and strength.  Maybe you've noticed it too.  Maybe it's just me, but I don't think so, and the more I learn about gratitude and the more I practice it … [Read more...]

They say that attitude is everything.  I've heard that over and over again my whole life.  As a teenager I heard "You had better get your attitude straight" or "You have a bad attitude" (because I did) or "That attitude will get you nowhere."  Everybody seemed to be telling me that I needed an attitude adjustment.  That my attitude needed to change.  At that time I was all like "You're the one with the attitude, I'm just doing my thing right now.  I'm outta here."  How funny, looking back now. … [Read more...]

If you've been perusing this site for a while you may be wondering what is all this about, this "Thoughtwriting"?  Well firstly, I thank you for your interest.  Thoughtwriting is really just a subtle but powerful twist on daily journal writing. Thoughtwriting is the daily practice of putting your thoughts on paper, but not just any thoughts.  When practicing Thoughtwriting you're putting down thoughts of extreme importance to you, about you, directly from your thoughts, and written directly … [Read more...]

This article isn't just about writing.  It's about the practice of building and maintaining habits. Building and maintaining habits toward your goals is what Thoughtwriting is all about.  For now, let's focus on writing daily. A good friend of mine, Mike Baron, is a comic book writer and graphic novelist of nearly 40 years experience.  If you're a comic fan you probably know his work fairly well.  If you don't, you can check out his work and his blog here.  Mike's style is extremely direct, … [Read more...]

I had a late lunch with my friend Monica yesterday, and part of our discussion involved why I haven't written a blog in quite some time.  I won't go into those reasons here, but if you're interested you can read it here.  Get ready for a long read though.  I'll touch on that again here in just a minute... Monica specializes in content creation and marketing strategies for bloggers.  Her material is outstanding and if you are a blogger struggling to get your message out, I highly recommend you … [Read more...]

If you've been reading my blog you probably know this article isn't really about cleaning out a closet, but today I cleaned out a pretty large closet. This was one of those closets that hardly gets used as a closet and just becomes a repository for things nobody wants, until it gets so full that you hesitate to even open the door for fear you may be tackled by whatever might be leaning up against the other side of the door. In fact that had actually happened twice. Well today I decided that … [Read more...]

When I started this blog I promised myself that I would post a new blog at least twice per month.  I have plenty of content.  I have plenty of ideas and topics to write about whirling around in my head just about every day.  For a while it went smoothly.  If you look back through my blog history you’ll see I’ve kept up with that promise for the most part, for at least a few months.  Then, something happened in the midst of the holidays.  No blogs for nearly three months. Well, it’s been about … [Read more...]

We hear a lot about affirmations from self help sources.  You find them in many books, hypnosis CD sets, seminars and the like, and they are often touted as a magic pill for self change.  “Tell yourself something enough times and it will be so”, they say.  On the other hand, you could tell yourself that you’re a millionaire until you’re blue in the face and still have poverty on your hands.  I know plenty of people that have had no success with affirmations and there are many articles written by … [Read more...]

Ever get annoyed by the inconsiderate habits of other people?  Me too!  And it’s a stupid place to be, let me tell you. We can often get annoyed by others when we think they’re being inconsiderate or, in our opinion, lacking in integrity or just being rude.  Some of us pass it off as a personality flaw.  Some of us can’t help but try to figure out why they are so rude and so we begin to rationalize why they could be so inconsiderate.  Some of us actually can be consumed by another’s rude or … [Read more...]

One of the clients of my computing services business has a company called 212 Degrees Restoration.  They do disaster remediation: Specializing in services to restore damage to buildings due to flooding, fire, mold, unruly tenants, etc. and they are among the best in the business at it. A clue to his company culture is the name of his business and their tagline “We go the extra degree.” He reformed his company after being a franchise owner with a disaster remediation company for several years. … [Read more...]

There’s something about putting words on paper that isn’t just creative in our own imagination or in the imaginations of those reading those words.  You can work through an idea and make a lot of progress with an idea in your head, for example, or you can set a goal by just thinking about it and begin to work towards it, or you can work through problems in your life in your head, but there is something almost magical about putting thoughts down on paper beyond just thinking about them. Writing … [Read more...]

There was a time when I was really young, back when I'd been talking for a while, but I was still figuring out what a lot of common phrases and expressions meant and how they were used.  I don't even think I knew what sarcasm was yet, but here's a story about one of my first discoveries about sarcasm.  Let’s just say I was about six years old or so. … [Read more...]

In today's fast paced world it's hard to stay focused. Our endeavors become scattered, goals become diluted. Some tasks sometimes seem insurmountable. This is where the power of autosuggestion comes in. Just once a day, do something powerful for yourself. Recite an affirmation. Focus on abundance. Remind yourself of what you are grateful for. Restate your intentions. Do this, and do this consistently on a daily basis, and you will be amazed at the results in just a few days. … [Read more...]