Farmers Market (Madison, WI) @pressgram no. 4

Katie and I went to our first farmers market of the year this morning. My parents took Sorin and Norah to a farm breakfast (no relation) in Janesville, so we had Hans Christian all to ourselves.

Paul,

Thanks for taking a look at my resume.

Below you will see what my email was all about.

 
Wait for it….

April Fool’s !!

I’m confident, but I’m not stupid. I hope this ends your day well. Honestly, I’m not a prankster but I got fooled this morning and had to get creative to spread the love.

On a much more serious note, I’m looking forward to apply for the job that is actually open. I have a few questions, but I won’t tie them in with this little prank. Until then, happy April 1.

Every year I get this feeling of frustration that we pile our thanksgivings into one day.  I think (no, I know) we would be much better off making it a daily practice to be thankful.  I have been talking to the kids all week about what they’re thankful for.  They’ve come up with food, hands, and family.  Not bad.  As for Katie and me, it’s been tougher this week.  I was sick Sunday and Monday, Katie is sick last night into today.  You can imagine how the flu makes it difficult to be thankful.  Yet I am reminded about this passage in the Bible:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  – Philippians 4:6

In everything is pretty tough to wrap your mind around.  But I’m guessing that it can be roughly translated “in everything.”  In health, in sickness, in good times, and in bad.  We are instructed to make our requests to the Lord.  That should be our ambition.

It’s a crazy morning, so my thoughts aren’t as concise as I was hoping.  So let me jump right to a few things I’m thankful for and I’d love to hear yours.  You can just list them or include some details.

1. Parents: Katie was making a couple dishes for Thanksgiving tomorrow at her dad’s house.  My parents graciously jumped in to make them for her.
2. Nancy’s Book Club:  We have a family book club (thanks Uncle Paul and Aunt Jeri!) and we’re reading a book called “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.”  Katie and I are four chapters in and we’re really enjoying the conversation we’re having and the challenge it’s bringing to the growth of our family and our relationship.
3. Mr. Lecher’s coaching:  My defensive coach in high school instilled in us the value of making adjustments in football, then in life.  This is an essential skill as I grow as a husband and father, at school and at work.

Maybe it’s one thing, maybe it’s a list of 20 strong.  Maybe the come right to the top of your mind, maybe you need five minutes of silence before the hectic holidays begin to come up with just one thing you’re thankful for.  Maybe you post in the comments, maybe you say it alone in your mind.  Whatever your style, be thankful.

Next week I will be celebrating my birthday, and I’m actually going to ask you for a gift.  I know, doesn’t sound like me, right?  Well that’s because I’m not really asking for anything for me.  But I’m still asking it from you.  Just a little teaser today.  Please come back tomorrow for all the details.

Make it a great day!  See you tomorrow.

I am a huge fan of Francis Chan. Today his publisher, David C. Cook, is offering all three of Francis’ ebooks for FREE. I just downloaded them all to my iPad, and you should too. Don’t have iPad? Still works on iPhone and there’s even a (free) Kindle app to read it on your computer.

From the publisher’s website, you can go to any of the listed retailers to download – I went through Amazon.

Happy Downloading

Here’s my bracket for the 2012 NCAA Tournament Challenge, aka my entry into March Madness.

2012 ESPN – Tournament Challenge – ESPN’s NCAA Men’s Bracket Game – Hans”

Feel free to mock me in the Comment Section. I’m already doubting myself because Greeny (Mike and Mike of ESPN radio) is big on Marquette. Of course, in the year I don’t play the role of Wisconsin-homer.

It's all about balance

Anyone who spends any time with me knows that I am very passionate about social media.  I am fascinated with how connected our world is, how much we learn from each other, and how readily I have access to high profile people nearly impossible only ten years ago.  This power of social media (for me this includes blogs, Twitter, and Facebook) becomes an incredible tool when I use it to further my research, study, and development in (a) the exercise field and (b) leadership and business management.  I could literally claim a graduate-level degree in these two areas with the experience I’ve gained since 2006.  But for me there is one big hurdle that continually pops up in my weekly social media experience – overload.

I’ve previously written about how to decrease the noise and filter out unwanted or unnecessary information on the social networks.  But this is still easier said than done, and the landscape is constantly changing.  Coach Lecher’s advice rings in my head: “life is a series of adjustments.”  Each week there’s a new person to follow on Twitter, there’s a new blog with a ton of useful information, and there’s another friend of Facebook that I want to catch up with.  The inputs never stop; in fact they continually grow large.

Confession: I am a hoarder.  This isn’t a joke – I’m literally confessing to each and every reader of mine that I don’t let things go.  My laptop is full of things from years ago, things I will never need again… but I can’t hit delete.  My Google Reader is filled with over 60 subscriptions.  I’ve “starred” hundreds if not thousands of items to read.  I use Instapaper to bookmark articles for reading later.  My iPhone now has a “Reader” button so I can bookmark items also to read later.  I will never be short of reading material.

Enough about my failures – let’s make something happen.  What I’ve been trying to show you is that I have numerous inputs in my life.  You may have the same problem.  It may look a lot different, it may not be as bad, heck it may be worse (I can’t imagine!).  But this I know for sure: successful, driven, world-changing people have the ability to manage their inputs and outputs.  Sometimes this tandem gets out of balance.  That’s where I’m at right now.  I’m taking in *so much* information but I’m not producing.  I haven’t blogged in over a month.  A friend actually asked me if I’m still on Twitter because he hasn’t heard from me in so long.  Life has gotten busy, but I still find time to “catch my fix” (read: addiction) to Twitter.

The solution is simple.  Prioritize the inputs, maximize the outputs.  I’m not suggesting an over-compensation shift to the outputs.  But I need to do things like this blog post to get my balance back.  You cannot build a reputation and a business on your potential.  At some point you need to produce.  You’re the same way.  Maybe at a different level, but ask yourself: What am I consuming, what am I producing?

This world is better when we are in balance with what we take from others (in a good way) and what we give to others.  Both are essential.  I will take this Thanksgiving break and reset.  I’ll declare bankruptcy on my to-do list and start over.  I’ll release myself from the burden of reading everything that comes my way, I’ll adjust my lists so that the important things don’t get cluttered with the average things.  I’ll maximize some relationships.  And most importantly I’ll produce and interact rather than consuming everyone’s stuff.

I was on a run last week through a nice neighborhood here in McFarland. Ahead of me I could see a father and son pulling a wagon. As I got closer I could see that the boy was dressed in his Boy Scout uniform and they were delivering whatever it is they had sold for the fundraiser. (All I know is the Girl Scouts do the cookies.) It was nice to see the father-son team out on a chilly fall day working together.

My route for the day called for me to turn around about a half-mile down the road. On my way back, I could see the two leaving a driveway and start back down the road towards me. When I got close, I noticed the dad pulling out one (of two) earbuds from his ear to talk with his son. He had been using both earbuds to listen to whatever was on his iPod… as he was walking and working with his son.

My heart dropped.

He was multi-tasking his son. I know because I take every opportunity I can to listen to a podcast, read a blog, or study a few slides and notes for class. Driving alone in the car is great – I can get some good content for 20 minutes or more, uninterrupted.  I know what this dad was doing, and part of me understands the temptation but none of me is ok with acting on that temptation.  You cannot multi-task your son.

Most studies will tell you the brain cannot effectively multi-task.  You can fool yourself into thinking you’re getting studying done while listening to some tunes, and keeping an eye on the news from the TV in the corner and chatting with a few people via text on your iPhone.  But if you were to critically analyze the quality of that studying, there’s no way it compares to what you could do if you were alone, device-free at a quite desk in the library.  Pursuing a disciplined lifestyle requires knowing your limits.  Maybe the dad had a big presentation to review for.  Maybe he had a really good sermon from church that he needed to review again.  Maybe he’s a big U2 fan and the music was moving him in Mysterious Ways.  Or maybe it was sports radio.  Whatever the case, when your 8-year old is working through a list of orders, names, and boxes of whatever Boy Scouts sell, it’s time to take out both earbuds and spend some time with your boy.