current project closes tomorrow morning

Day 23

I have a full draft revised now of the current project , and I am excited that tomorrow i will be closing that chapter.
I would like to work tomorrow afternoon on the non-fiction framework for my book. I have the framework but it needs to be polished before nanowrimo. from the current work I have also learnt that its easier to revise a document when all facets you can think of are already in. that means I will try to add as much as posssible to my existing document without editing until the end of nanowrimo. they will be no need to print the document for the 30 days. revision will be done on 1st December 2007. this time i have to make it. its now 2 years with just a rough outline of the book. i also have a rough framework. the current project is also a good precursor to my doctoral proposal.

for my gospel book , I will just add blogs to shoutlife without structure as long its on renewal until it takes its own shape in a way that is sufficiently breakthru. I am also considering doing some 3o days in december writing a rough first draft of gospel book while cleaning up the business book. that will ensure that i have both books ready at the end of december 2007 as First fine Drafts.

targets:

1. complete business book rough draft 30 november 2007
2. Complete business book first fine draft 31 December 2007
3. Complete shoutlife blogs /reignited blogs as rough draft of gospel book 30 November 2007
4. complete gospel book first fine draft 31 December 2007
5. Complete Doctoral Proposal rough Draft November 31,2007
6. Complete Doctoral Proposal fisrt fine draft December 31,2007

I will start the research work for the books in January. the stages should follow the following order:

1. rough Draft
2. First fine draft
3. Researched Draft
4. Peer reviewed draft
5. Edited draft
6. Final draft
7. published draft

I have no option but to work hard to achieve these dreams
Nanowrimo starts on the 1st there is only tomorrow to do the book's framework

Doctoral Proposal Revisted

I am considering revisting the doctoral proposal early so that if any opportunity avails itself to start at the end of the first quarter 2008, i can start. I know how hard it is to try to balance 3 projects in one month November 2007. the 3 projects are doctoral proposal, business book and gospel book. the gospel book can proceed at shoutlife.com blog without any word deadlines, the doctoral proposal can proceed to completion as it is related to business book. the gospel book will not need any structure for now. i will just keep on posting short pieces at shoutlife at least twice a week. but I will have to write the doctoral proposal at least thrice a week and the business book everyday. shoutlife will be written from the point of view and at the point of inspiration, whereas for business book it will be by force.

so the program for november is as follows:

gospel book: no min or max number of words per day. write anytime on inspiration can write at least once in 3 days

Business book write everyday. Focus. 1667 words per day. Target 50000 words. Doctoral proposal during working hours until completion. on 25 November compile all shoutlife and reignited blogs in one word file to make draft of personal renewal book

to plot a way forward on 1 december on:

1. on when doctorate is possible and which university
2. when to release business book and overal written strategy of consultancy company
3. when to release gospel book and overal ministry strategy written down
   

5 days to Nanowrimo

DAY 19

I need to complete the framework for the business book and also for the gospel book. I will continue to post gospel stuff on shoutlife.com. for the business book i will write it offline but provide updates on this blog. I have deleted my personal and corporate blogs and will revive them when I am done with the writing of the books at the end of November. I will make a decision on branding in November. I will need to register the business in the month of November.

monthly articles

Day 16

the monthly artcles on personal renewal will be posted at another personal blog in my actual name rather than shoutlife. its hard to have a big post at shoutlife. i will refer people to this blog. it will also act as a writer 's site in whic i discuss other things. I will combine my shoutlife posts with the current blog to write the monthly articles.

Renewal Articles on Shoutlife

Renewal articles of 3000 words each will be post at shoutlife.com on the 5th day of each following month.

Did you say a day is only 24 hours

Day 14

I have now realised why time management as well as energy management are core skills in life. Things remain undone even after following the myriad of breathing techniques , menta conditioning and affirmations that is touted by most self-help experts.
Why is needed after learning all the skills that are taught by the experts is :
(1) Energy Management
This is a foremost skill that I largely lack that affected my goals for this past week and I am still stuck on things that should have happened on monday.
mistakes I made:
(a) I never woke up daily at 04am to pray,journal and run with project while still having lots of energy in the morning.

(b) I didnt organise myself sufficiently to make a balance between the not-urgent-important and the urgent-important issues

(c) I was not organised sufficiently as to place my current project needs nearby so I can write at any point in time.

(2) I lack time management skills

(3) Organising skills

(4) Health challenges
I experiences tiredness during the week due to maybe depression, i need to find out why that happens and how to conquer it. Today on Day 14 I am continuing with the research project but I am now off-track. I hope to complete the project on Wednesday. Thursday I will concentrate on binding and submission

A journey of 15 months book outline

the idea of a book based on my 15 month journey is getting interesting. I guess a layout in sequential order ensures that I focus on the journey and lessons learned without being preachy about the subject. so the chapter layout will be as follows. ( written as 15 articles of 3000 words each for every month)

Acknowledgements
Preface
First Month: Setting Out
Second Month:
Third Month:
Fourth Month:
Fifth Month:

until .......

..............
Fifteen Month:
The journey will include contacts I have met (if they agree to be included in the blog as I go)

Monthly Articles based on the Blog

Every month I will write an article based on my experiences and the blog I have posted here. I will decide where to publish it but I figure that if I can write 3000 words every month for the next 15 months then I will be having a 45000 word book read at the end of the period. The book will be about the journey of 15 months

Blog everyday

I will try to blog everyday for the next 15 months. so far so good though I have occassionally skipped a day or two

Freeing Up Time

Day 12

it seems the more I try to free time the more the work I will be doing keep on stretching. I seem to have more and more work at my employers to the extent that today I did nothing in the direction of my goals. So i worked on trying to free up time for sartuday so that I will catch up on the research project that has been behind since yesterday. I need to hit my target completion date for sartuday but I guess completion on monday will still be ideal.

To increase my free time from the pressures of work related issues I am pushing for a temp employee candidate to cover december to February. the employee will benifit from more knowledge and space to do his university project as he will be on vacation. This naturally will help me cover some business-book-mileage between December 2007 and March 2008. In will push for a graduate on a permanent basis, I will develop the individual as well as training materials I will need in future. I will be recording whatever I teach them on so that it becomes a manual for the administrators course. I will also grow material from training the vacation student and other students.

I will also want to spend the last days of October training other employees at work on job related issues they need to master. I will monitor and further train them in November. Its a Win-Win arrangement as this will help them grow at the same time helping free up my time every afternoon to concentrate on my bigger project issues. It seems I need to work more on the not-urgent-important issues so that I dont fire-fight everyday since goals are won and lost everyday. I need to work on disaster recovery strategies and network stabilisation strategies

dezekiels@gmail.com

Progress in freeing up next week

Day 10
I finished the literature review and chapter 1 first drafts of the research project. I need to do the methology chapter draft today and complete as well as part of the results chapter. I should be through with this project by sartuday to free up time for next week 's book plan framework. I need to free up time for preparations for the nanowrimo month. I am wirking up everyday at 0500hrs but would like to improve to wake up at 0400hrs to write.
I have just discovered that the project I am working on only needs about 35 pages so I will try to move fast. its good to have completed the 10th day in the goal spirit.

Goals are Won and Lost Each Day

Day 9
I worked hard at work to clear outstanding issues, but there remains a problem in that I did nothing to make an advance towards my goals. my plan for this week is to complete the research project I am working on and submit it on monday. The whole of next week I will we working on the stepping plans in creating chapters for the business book. currently i have summaries of what i will be doing in the chapters. it will be benificial to have a detailed outline of the chapters so that I dont suffer from writers 's block in the 30 Nanowrimo days that I wish to complete the rough draft without any editing.
Program for remaining days of the week up to sartuday:

16.Tuesday: finish literature review and Chapter 1
after doing a full literature review and chapter 1, I will then do a light edit to tie up everything. I need to build the constucts in this chapter

17.Wednesday: Finish Methodology & Results Chapters
Should utilize part of morning and afternoon to write Methodology, some interviews in the evening. wake up earl 0400hrs to write.

18.Thursday: finish Discussion and Conclusion chapter (morning) send for peer review in the evening
utilize morning, afternoon and evening at work.wake up earl 0400hrs to write.

19.Friday: Revisions and Editing
utilize morning, afternoon and evening at work.wake up earl 0400hrs to write. print copy that will need edit and discuss. incorporate the relevant theory throughout document to make it relevant to the field
20.Sartuday: Final Editing
go to work with notebooks,modules and printed edit to do final edit. prepare late submission fine and binding money. look for paper to print monday. print copy for final light edit

21.Sunday: complete Business book summarized framework. step out in chapters from monday

On sunday I will be focusing on the business book's final framework. Sunday should mark the beginning of a new time in my life since I will have gained some nanowrimo insights from the work I will be doing in this research. I will need to start a new file that is seperate from the detailed outline so that i can actually see the progress of the write up. I will be writing in A4 mode for easy of printing, formatting will be done later. The target number of words is 75000 words that is 2500 words per day for 30 days from 1 November to 30 November 2007.

As I was updating this blog the stress i had starting going away. this is a good experience. that means i can start writing even when I am under stress but once I get going everything else becomes seconday. In the coming work I need to raise more cash to cover critical gaps in fees, mum health requirements and home requirements. I will also set aside a little amount as an emergency fund that i will keep on updating until i have 3 months living expenses.

I will be finishing today with the literature review and chapter 1 of the other research project

Spiritual Growth

I received a call that my mother had been ill for the past few days. I cried out and pleaded to the Lord for healing. it dawned on my spirit that we have not been the one familly that we should be together with my young brothers and our sister. I realised that I need to put in more effort to work more closely than ever before. we are not at loggerheads but its just that the relations are lukewarm
I prayed to the Lord for forgiveness and for him to allow my mother to see the joy of this life; to see the fruits of her labour before she is take away. I have lived a life of pain in poverty all these years and i wish to turnaround with the help of the Lord. I wish also for spiritual growth for my immediate familly, my father's family and my father-in-law's family. I saw this strongly in my prayer last night when I was in tears about our situation.
Surely the one who sits on the highest throne is on my side as evidenced by the fact that he has supported me since I was young

Writing hours

Day 8b
I spend 3 hours writing continously on the other research project, and it is from there that I learnt to sit for long hours. I had a 2 hr break after that I only managed to work for about 1 hr. maybe I should have taken a walk and come back and try another 3 hours.

Doctoral Proposal

Day 8 a
while working on another research project ,I figured out that I need to write and finish my doctoral research proposal by June 2008. at the same time by that date I should have acquired sufficient statistical skills (need to acquire books) to be able to write the proposal as well as interpret articles for a comprehensive literature review by the August 2008 I should have secured a place for a Doctorate in 2009 or earlier.

my research proposal will cover creative thinking and it will include the development of an instrument, I should do the preliminary research work while doing the proposal to check feasibility of the research

Idea: Training communications

there is a lot of information available for me to start training network administrators. I can train them on linux, internetworking (need Cisco Simulators). it is probably a very good opportunity especially where there are simulators. A Network Administration Course is also essential and it can possibly cover:

Mailserver Installation and Administration (Linux, sendmail/postfix ....Windows, Exchange)
Trouble Shooting skills
Lan and WAN installation and administration
Dialin Servers and Administration
vendor Management (service level agreements , selection and management)
Network and Technical Support Management
Disaster Recovery Planning and Implementation (includes comms equipment)
Inventory and Asset Management
Network , hardware and software security
Server room design and management (include growth strategy)
Budget planning
Team building in Technical Support and Network Management
Brainstorming and creative thinking techniques for network managent and support
Ethics in Technical Support and network management

First Consulting Gig Pay Cheque

Day 4 Afternoon Edition
I have just received my first cheque for the a consulting gig in which I helped a client connect their two branches over their network. The client was really impressed by my work and I left his team excited to work on increasing their knowledge of communications.

I think this is a good start though its a bad begginning in terms of financial management as the bulk of the money is going into fighting storms so that I stay on course. I still need to register my consulting company and draft the complete strategy. in this job I was contracted by a different company to do the job.

A sign of good times to come.

Storms of Life and 15 month Goals

Day 4

Yesterday, I spent the whole day fighting storms of life. I wrote nothing and I almost descended back into the depths of depression. This is characteristic of a poverty stricken life yet from a distance I am beggar sitting on a beach of gold. my point in writing is not to make a quick buck , but to build a consulting company around a business idea. This morning I was reading a post from www.goalblog.com in which Jill Koenig talks about the mother lode goal.

According to Koenig
"Your “Mother Lode” Goal is the one Goal that when achieved, will allow for the attainment of most or possibly all of your other Goals more quickly and easily" www.goalblog.com

it definitely was an interesting post and I began to think about what my Mother Lode goal is. I believe my mother lode goal is the business book I am working on and if I manage to finish writing the book in the remaining 90 days of the years, other goals will become easier to achieve.

I believe that I don't have to focus on fighting the storms of life , but I need to focus on steering the ship of my progress in my intended direction. If I don't write the book , my mind will keep on haunting me and blaming me for not making my contribution to human development and for not making sufficient attempts to make a difference in my life.

One thing that I need to work on seriously is to clear all social debt as I am living my life under blame from several people related to me and this continues to sap the energy of my existence. My father passed away about 10 years ago (October 1997) and the same level of blame that I live in is the same pain that darkened his life over the years. As long as this pain remains , it remains an a stumbling block to my efforts to live a normal life. In the bible , the prophet Jeremiah complained " I have neither lend nor borrowed , yet I am a man everyone contends with".
I put this as one of my main goals for the 15 month period. My father had social debt with his inlaws and at the same time their marriage with my mother was a very sad one. By the time he passed away he had been living with another wife for about 5 years. My father and his brothers were not in good books and they lived in total conflict, a scenario that was 'normal' for their generation. relationships between brothers and sisters are improving with its generation. I realise that most of my social debt can be cleared with sufficient money. the social processes are not hard but they need funding.

I have also adjusted the way I live these days for I was contininually falling back into depression. I am now more understanding of people 's attitudes and my purpose for living. depression is a time waster and it is a source of many illnesses as well as emotional turmoil.

I also figure out that in my pathway to my goals I need to quickly finish the first draft of my business book by November 30 and have first fine Draft by December 31,2007. I will then start a research period for another 90 days. the next 90 days will be peer review, seminars to elicit feedback and test concepts as well as looking for indorsements when the editing is done. by the end June my book should be ready for editing by a professional editor as well as getting endorsements. so roughly the project plan is like.

October-November-December 2007
First Fine Draft
January-February-March 2008
Research Draft, Seminars, Peer-Review, order more books
April-May-June 2008
Editing and Media Preparations
July-August- September 2008
Endorsements
Self-Publishing Process (printing, uploading to amazon and barnes & Noble.)
October-November-December 2008
Book promotion Tours and Seminars

I need to start serious consultancy work so that I manage to leave employment and concentrate on business so a serious fund raising initiative is critical for me to achieve the goal of retiring from employment as well as the goal of clearing social debts. I have travelled a long road and I see my success becoming clearer and clearer than ever before.

Freeing upTime for not-urgent -important tasks

Day 3
Today i failed to work up early, on day1 i woke up at 0400hrs, the next day it was 0130hrs. I was working on a non core writing project that is urgent and should help me to free up time for the not-urgent-important tasks. I am working on an urgent issue that should be complete by weekend so for me to work on the book daily I will need a longer day. I plan to work between 6-9pm today on the urgent issue and work on the book during the day
creating a balance between the urgent-important tasks and not-urgent-important tasks is critical as its very easy to overlook the not-urgent-important tasks yet they are the lifeblood of all goals. they create more comfort in the future. I will seek to strike this balance everyday , otherwise issues remain unattended to.
I present the quadrants below

+urgent
*
p3 * p1
-important****************************** +important
*
*
p4* p2
*
-urgent

my firs priority is the p1 quadrant then p2,p3,p4 but i still need to strike a good balance between P1 and P2 otherwise I will be mortgaging my future , i will be investing in pain if i dont work enough on p2. P1 is in the present and its also critical because if i neglect, i will be inviting troubles that will affect the creation of time in the long term

feedback: dezekiels@gmail.com or comment on this blog

thrown off balance but picking myself up

DAY 2

I have wasted about about 15 months now doing endless outlining without actually moving forward with the writing of the book. though the book becomes clearer and clearer, it can be forever before the book sees the light of the day. my biggest problem has been a self imposed writer's block that is fed by perfectionism. Now perfectionism has delayed all my goals. I had clear cut goals on what I wanted. i had a schedule of the book writing process but I kept on going backwards and forwards doing endless outlining. I have realised that I have too major weaknesses that I need to work on:
(1) Perfectionist tendencies - hoping for an international bestseller when I still have to learn the craft and at least deliver something to the market. I have heard from -- I think it was Brian Tracy- - that if its worth doing then its worth doing poorly at first
(2) lack of committment to action: I made a significant improvement these year in that I can visualise my project , my book, each and every day. But I remain with one challenge that I am fighting hard this time; the tendency to schedule but not acting on the schedule. I have seen that my plans on paper are perfect.

in mid-2005 I started looking at the possiblity of writing a business book, I kept on clarifying my thoughts on the book and even designing rough covers as well as learning about publishing. By April 2006 I had settled for self-publishing with the printer of choice being lighting source. Around August 2006 ,I went back into serious ouline and these has taken me a whole year. the major problem i have been having is that I over-depend on free material on the net due to my location and financial circumstances. in 2008 I hope to actually buy material on writing , Speaking, and innovation. I spent the large part of 2007 up to october looking at public speaking, writing and innovation without basically doing much about it. I also spend a lot of time in amazon.com looking at book reviews and the types of books in my field that are on offer.I believe its good to always be in bookstores so you know whats big on the market and how others are doing it.

I am now more than dertemined to work hard and achieve my writing and speaking goals.

2008 Purchase List (not specific)
in 2008 I would like to buy
(1) writing books especially Dan Poynter 's self publishing book and all of Aaron Sheppard's books on self-publishing. Aaron's Aiming at Amazon and Perfect Pages are a must for and self-publisher.
(2) Professional speaking books and videos of business speakers
(3) Innovation books
(4) I would like to join toastmasters
If you have any good pointers or recommedations please email me on the following address,
dezekiels@gmail.com, or leave a comment on this blog

15 Months Renewal Agenda

on the 8th October 2007, I setup a 15 month goal plan in which I will be working on my personal renewal. I will be updating this blog daily to show the activity that I will be doing in pursuance of that goal. you are free to contact me to discuss the issues or you can comment on my blog, you can also provide helpful tips or criticisms to my approach. I am free to discuss all the issues.

My 3 main goals are:

(1) Retire from formal employment and go into business
(2) clear social debts
(3) Improve family quality of life

My Objectives

1. Raise USD100000 by December 31,2008 through seminars, consulting, IT business and abitrage
   
2. Business Book WIP Release Date Friday 08/June/08
   
3. Clear social debts in immediate family, extended families and inlaws family
   
4. Family spiritual,financial, intellectual and physical wellbeing

I am going to start a business consultancy company that will be focusing on DRP, Innovation and IT consultancy work.The business book will form the main product of the consulancy company , though I will start with other products like offering DRP consultancy, without worrying about writing a book on it. I will seek to raise the USD100,000 through the activities of the consultancy company.
I plan to release the book on the 8th June 2008 so that I have the remainder of the year for promotion efforts. Inorder for me to develop a plan for the launch of the book I will start by writing opinion pieces between October and December 31,2007 . I will be targetting to get 2 business columns one in a business weekly in East Region and the other one in a Business Weekly that covers Southern Region. I will also start preparing the questions and answers for both radio and TV interviews as well as a press release. I will aslo be preparing for book Launch 3 Day Seminars like the ones done by Di Lemme in every country in Southern Region and part of Central and West Region.
I will start a blog on some of the issues in the book to raise an online platform, when I am about to release the book I will send opinion pieces to targeted international papers to gain some online buzz.
I will contact key people in the selfpublishing community before the release of the book, to gauge their opinion. I will then start looking for endorsements from other authors.
In this blog i write under a pseudonym so that I remain free to post any positive or negative items that relates to the journey.