K3 Cita rasa KAMPOENG yg Sesungguhnya

Setelah sekian lama vakum, kini saya kembali membagikan pengalaman baru dr bumi kepri. Tanah yg berbeda, tp terasa tidak asing. Krn suasana dan lingkungannya seperti di kampung halaman, iyah Batam. Disinilah skrg saya tinggal sementara dan mencoba memulai usaha baru, meskipun pekerjaan sebagai arsitek dan pengawas lapangan tetap ditekuni.

Usaha ini sekedar meyalurkan hobbi. Memang memasak merupakan kesenangan lain yg membawa ketenangan jiwa. Bagi follower yg ada di Batam, silahkan kunjungi kami, Kedai K3 di komplek ruko Penuin Center Blok Y12 Batam.

K3 menyediakan menu dari berbagai kampoeng nusantara. Diracik dengan
resep2 tradisional, membuat cita rasanya benar2 ngangeni. Diantaranya, ada Ayam Goreng Djogja yg bertabur rempah2, Ayam Betutu Bali yg berani dlm rasa, Ayam Bakar Ponti yg gurih dan seger rasanya, Garang Asem Solo yg pedesnya kebgtan, Sop buntut betawi yg juicy, sop ayam jamur jawa yg seger rasanya, rawon kuningan, gado2 cirebon, nasi megono lereng dieng dan masih byk lagi.

Semua masakan dibuat tanpa menggunakan penyedap buatan atau penguat rasa. Semua masakan diracik hanya menggunakan rempah2 tradisional. Jd, tunggu apalg? Disini kami ada utk memuaskan rasa bagi yg kangen masakan kampoeng halamannya dan bagi pecinta kuliner yg ingin mencoba kuliner khas nusantara yg lainnya.

Ayam Goreng Djogja

Misua Kampoeng

Es Lidah Buaya

Aku masih hidup

Setelah beberapa hari larut dalam pekerjaan yang tiada akhirnya membuat hati menjadi jenuh. Kejar2xan, order sana sini, berpikir keras menyusun strategi untuk menyelesaikan target yang diminta membuat kepala penuh dengan kerumitan pekerjaan. Rasanya dada menjadi sesak, penuh dengan tekanan. Tiada waktu untuk istirahat meski cuma sejenak. Ketika pagi ini memulai aktivitas seperti biasanya, rasanya hari ini sudah mencapai puncak kejenuhan, saya melalui jalan yang sama dengan kendaraan yang sama menuju lokasi kerja, akan tetapi ada satu pemandangan yang tidak biasa. Meski telah tiap hari melewati jalan yang sama, akan tetapi baru pagi ini saya menyadari udara pagi ini begitu segar meskipun langit memang tidak begitu cerah. Saya baru menyadari ada hamparan padi hijau di sebelah timur jalan yang membuat isi kepala terasa segar dan hati terasa nyaman. Saya bersyukur pagi ini masih berangkat kerja dan berkesempatan melihat matahari terbit, menghirup udara pagi yang segar, melihat hamparan padi hijau yang mulai menguning di sawah sepanjang jalan menuju lokasi kerja. Lalu saya berpikir, apa yang saya lakukan kemarin2x sampai2x saya tidak menyadari itu semua? Di dalam benak saya terbersit beberapa pertanyaan, Kemana saya selama ini sehingga saya tidak menyadari itu semua? Di luar sana mungkin ada banyak orang yang mengalami hal yang serupa seperti yang saya alami. Saya menjadi bertanya-tanya, mencoba mengingat-ingat beberapa hal, Kapan terakhir kali saya menikmati mentari terbit? dan bukan sekedar melihat saja, tapi melalui setiap tahap terbitnya mentari secara perlahan, sedikit demi sedikit. Kapan terakhir kali saya menyadari bahwa saya sedang menghirup udara pagi yang segar? bukan sekedar tahu, tapi merasakan udara yang mengalir melalui saluran penapasan dan memenuhi paru2x ini Kapan terakhir kali saya memperhatikan langit biru yang cerah tanpa awan? dan bukan sekedar melihat tapi menikmati begitu indahnya langit yang menyelimuti bumi ini. Kapan terkahir kali saya menikmati hamparan sawah hijau yang begitu indah? dan bukan sekedar melihat tapi hanyut di dalam pemandangan yang indah ini, dimana daun2x padi basah karena tetes embun yang belum sempat mengering, pucuk padi yang bergoyang tertiup angin. Kapan terakhir kali saya secara sadar merasakan aliran air yang begitu segar membasahi tubuh ini dari kepala hingga ke kaki? Kapan terakhir kali saya mendengarkan suara angin bertiup, benar2x angin bertiup, berdesing di ujung telinga seperti nyanyian yang begitu indah dan mendamaikan hati. Mungkin sebagian dari kita telah lupa akan hal2x yang begitu luar biasa yang terdapat di dalam alam ini, anugrah Ilahi yang tiada tara. Mungkin karena kita terlalu sibuk dengan sekelumit urusan duniawi yang telah menyita waktu dan perhatian kita, seperti yang saya alami. Mungkin karena hal2x yang luar biasa ini terlalu sederhana sehingga kita menganggapnya biasa. Mungkin karena lingkungan kita jauh atau bahkan terlalu dekat dengan hal2x ini sehingga membuat kita lupa akan kehadirannya. Terkadang kita mulai lupa, tidak menyadari, atau apalah namanya, dengan lingkungan sekitar tempat dimana kita hidup, bertempat tinggal. Kita lupa bahwa kita adalah bagian dari alam ini. kita lupa bahwa kita tidak dapat berdiri sendiri tanpa alam ini. Kita ada di dalamnya, bahkan kita hanya sebagian kecil darinya. Kita lupa dengan alam ini karena ia begitu sederhana. Hari ini saya sangat bersyukur, saya masih diingatkan dengan hal2x yang begitu luar biasa yang disediakan alam ini. Hari ini saya masih berkesempatan melihat matahari terbit dengan cahayanya yang kuning keemasan, menghirup udara pagi yang segar, melihat langit biru meski sedikit berawan, melihat hamparan padi hijau yang mulai menguning. Semua ini sungguh luar biasa, seperti ada energi baru yang merasuki sekujur tubuh. Sejenak semua kerumitan pekerjaan yang menyesakkan dada ini terasa sirna. Seperti bangkit dari kematian, membuat saya sadar, bahwa saat ini saya masih hidup. Lalu bagaimana dengan anda?

Hidup adalah Perjalanan

Tidak terasa satu setengah tahun telah berlalu, dan selama itupula blog ini seakan tidak terawat...., sungguh tersia-siakan. Begitulah hidup, kadang ada hal lain yang menuntut untuk lebih diperhatikan. Namun tidak berarti sesuatu yang dinomor-duakan menjadi tidak berarti. Kembali lagi kepada kita bagaimana menyikapinya, selalu saja ada sudut pandang lain dalam melihat suatu keadaan. Sekarang tergantung kepada kita bagaimana mau menjalani kehidupan ini. Kemana aku selama ini....? Ada banyak jawaban, tapi hanya ada satu alasan yang tepat. Terjebak dalam kemacetan perjalanan yang bernama Pekerjaan (yang tidak pernah ada habisnya). Seperti kebanyakan orang, yang tanpa disadari telah menghabiskan hampir seluruh hidupnya untuk pekerjaan yang tiada habisnya ini. Ada banyak alasan mengapa orang memilih perjalanan ini. Mulai dari keinginan untuk membahagiakan keluarga, memperoleh materi yang cukup, menjadi orang terpandang, kesenangan (hobby), sampai pada takut hidup menderita karena tidak memiliki uang. Apapun itu alasannya, waktu dan perhatian yang terkuras untuk perjalanan ini telah mengalahkan hal-hal lainnya. Sampai2x terkadang tidak ada lagi waktu dan perhatian untuk keluarga, bahkan untuk diri sendiri. Hidup menjadi identik dengan pekerjaan. Keluarga, sanak saudara dan teman, telah tergantikan oleh pekerjaan. Liburan dan harian terasa asing dalam agenda sepanjang tahun. Lalu.... Apa yang kita dapat dari perjalanan yang bernama pekerjaan ini? Adakah perjalanan ini menyenangkan? Adakah ia memberikan kebahagiaan? Adakah ia berjalan sesuai dengan yang kita bayangkan? Hanya anda yang telah tiba di akhir perjalanan yang bisa menjawab semua ini. Dan karena perjalanan ini begitu panjang, melelahkan dan menyita waktu kita, sehingga ketika kita tiba diujung sana kita sudah tidak memiliki waktu dan peluang untuk kembali lagi. Jadi.... renungkanlah dengan mendalam sebelum anda melanjutkan perjalanan ini lebih jauh lagi. Kita tidak pernah tahu bagaimana akhirnya. Jangan sampai kita menyesal setelah tiba diujung sana. HIDUP ADALAH PERJALANAN..... Ia bisa membawa kebahagiaan tapi juga bisa membawa penderitaan dan penyesalan. Semua tergantung kepada anda saat memilih dan menata jalan mana yang akan anda lalui. by Libs

Apakah Pilihan Hidupmu????

Orang sering mengatakan “Hidup adalah pilihan. Sebuah kalimat yang sederhana, pendek namun penuh dengan makna. (Begitulah kira2x menurut saya, gak tahu kalau orang lain). Setiap orang dihadapkan pada berbagai pilihan dalam menjalankan hidupnya; - Mau hidup sebagai siapa? Atau bahkan sebagai apa? - Mau hidup yang bagaimana? Atau yang seperti apa? - Mau hidup dengan melakukan apa? Atau melakukan apa untuk hidup? - Mau hidup bagi siapa? Atau hidup dengan siapa? Setiap orang punya alasannya sendiri untuk menentukan jalan hidupnya. Yang terpenting adalah bertanggung jawab atas pilihannya. (yah gak?). Sudahkah anda membuat pilihan hidup anda? Suatu ketika, saya melihat penggalan singkat realita kehidupan yang mengingatkan saya akan kalimat “Hidup adalah pilihan” ini. Realita kehidupan yang penuh dengan sandiwara dan dipentaskan di atas panggung kehidupan yang penuh dengan penderitaan, dimana harga diri diobral untuk membiayai pementasannya dan hanya menggunakan tiket kemuakan kita bisa menyaksikannya. Saat itu, di suatu malam selasa sekitar bulan agustus tahun 2008. Ketika itu kira-kira hampir jam 10 saya baru pulang sehabis latihan di kampus. Sungguh sebuah keberuntungan bagi saya, karena ban sepeda motor saya bocor sehingga saya bisa memperoleh pelajaran yang sangat berharga ini. Saya pun kemudian menuntun sepeda motor itu ke seorang penambal ban tua, tempatnya di tepi jalan raya sebelah utara pertigaan lampu merah dekat kampus. Pak No, begitu biasanya orang-orang memanggil si penambal ban tua itu. Saya mengenalnya sejak masih kuliah sekitar 10 tahun yang lalu. Saat itu pun ia telah menjadi seorang penambal ban dan pengecer bensin di bawah pohon ketapang itu, persis seperti malam itu. Masih di tempat yang sama, perlengkapan yang sama dan lingkungan yang sama. Bahkan penjual soto di selatan tempatPak No praktek pun masih ada. Yang berbeda hanya suasana malam itu, kini jalan raya itu lebih ramai. Meski hari telah larut, namun masih banyak kendaraan yang hilir mudik. Beberapa saat saya duduk di situ memperhatikan Pak No menambal ban sepeda motor saya sambil sesekali kami berbincang-bincang. Tiba-tiba, ia berkata, “Mas, coba kamu lihat perempuan yang berdiri di pojokan jalan sambil menggendong anak itu”. Saya kemudian menoleh ke arah pojokan jalan yang dimaksudnya. Ketika itu saya melihat seorang perempuan muda, pakaiannya lusuh, tampak kotor dan mengenakan sandal jepit. Sambil menggendong seorang anak ia berdiri disana seperti sedang menunggu seseorang. “Iyah, kenapa Pak?” saya balik bertanya. Perhatian kami masih tertuju kepada perempuan itu. Saat itu seorang lelaki mengendarai sepeda motor yang tampak cukup baru dan terawat menghampirinya. “Itu suaminya”, kata Pak No tiba-tiba menyeletuk. Perempuan itu pun kemudian pergi berboncengan dengan pria tersebut. “Perempuannya kayak pengemis yach? Padahal yang laki bawanya motor keren. Yah begitulah manusia hidup, segala cara dihalalkan untuk mencari nafkah” lanjut Pak No. “Kenapa begitu pak?” tanya saya penasaran. Apa maksud bapak ini dengan ucapannya barusan? “Perempuan itu kerjanya mengemis. Setiap pagi dia didrop oleh suaminya dan tiap malam dijemput lagi. Kerjanya dari pagi ampe malam cuma jalan dari ujung jalan sini ke ujung jalan sana untuk ngemis sambil bawa anaknya biar dikasihani. Dah hampir dua tahun ini dia di sini, waktu hamil pun dia tetap jalan. Jadi jalan ini sudah seperti kantornya dia. Datang jam 8 pagi, pulang jam 10 malam. Penghasilannya lumayan, ampe bisa beli motor segala.” jelas Pak No. Saya begitu tersentak mendengar penjelasan Pak No. Dalam hati saya berpikir, “Bahkan mengemis pun telah dijadikan mata pencaharian”. Sungguh menyedihkan pilihan hidup seperti ini. Dimana kemalasan telah membuat orang mengambil jalan pintas untuk mendapatkan materi duniawi. Dimana kemiskinan dijadikan pengesahan atas tindakannya untuk menlanjutkan hidup. Dimana anak telah dijadikan komoditi untuk mendapatkan belas kasihan. Sungguh sulit dimengerti, sulit dipahami. Itulah pilihan hidup. Keesokan harinya, pagi itu saya sedang mengantri untuk menabung di sebuah bank. Pagi itu antrian tidak begitu ramai, kira-kira saya di antrian ke-12. Setelah beberapa saat mengantri, tepat enam antrian di belakang saya ada seorang gadis cantik yang ikut mengantri. Karena antrian dibentuk berkelok-kelok jadi dia berdiri persis di sebelah saya. Gadis itu begitu seksi, modis, berambut lurus pirang, berkulit putih, harum dan wajahnya rupawan. Setiap orang yang melihatnya pasti akan terpesona, yakin dech!( tapi jangan mikir yang macam-macam loh….!). Di sebelahnya berdiri seorang gadis lainnya yang lebih supel, sepertinya temannya. Kedua gadis ini terlibat dalam perbincangan tentang seseorang, sepertinya tentang seorang laki-laki, mungkin pacarnya. (gak nguping loch, karena dia berdiri di samping jadi kedengaran dong.) Sepertinya si gadis pirang itu sedang marah pada cowoknya. Dalam perbincangan itu ia mengatakan bahwa cowoknya itu gak sensitif dan pelit. Ia sebel karena tidak diberi kado oleh cowoknya pada saat hari ulang tahunnya beberapa hari yang lalu. “Masa sich gak dibelikan kado ama cowok loe?” tanya gadis di sebelahnya. “Iyach, padahal kita sempat jalan-jalan ke mall lihat-lihat kalung. Gua dah bilang suka kalung itu. Tak pikir ntar pas ultah pasti dibelikan, eh…….. ga tahunya beneran malah gak dibelikan.” jelas gadis pirang itu. Kemudian ia menambahkan, “Memang sich ini salah gua juga”. “Loh kog bisa?” tanya temannya kebingungan. “Dia (si cowok) kan tanya, mau kalung atau mau mentahnya aja? Gua jawab yah terserah aja, tapi dibedakan ama yang (uang) bulanan. Terus dia jawab, “yach gak apa-apa”. “Tapi jangan semuanya dibelanjakan, ntar sebagian ditabung yach, gitu katanya.” “Terus pas ultah loe diberi (uang) berapa?” tanya temannya penasaran. “Pas ultah itu, tak kira beneran mau ditransfer lebih, gak tahunya Cuma 1jt, itukan sama aja dengan (uang) bulanan aku. Padahal (uang) bulanan aja dia dah beri segitu, masa buat ultah juga segitu. Udah gitu masih disuruh nabung lagi. Mana cukup……” jawab si gadis pirang itu. Setelah itu , saya tidak tahu lagi kelanjutannya. Karena setelah itu giliran saya untuk ke teller telah tiba. Dalam hati saya berpikir, “bahkan ada orang yang menggunakan cara ini untuk memuaskan nafsu materinya. Begitu pula, sungguh menyedihkan pilihan hidup seperti ini. Dimana harga diri ditukar dengan materi duniawi yang tak kekal. Dimana hati nurani telah menjadi bisu karena virus keserakahan. Dimana kecantikan telah menjadi pembungkus jiwa yang busuk penuh dengan kelicikan. Sekali lagi sulit dimengerti, sungguh sulit dipahami. Lalu apa bedanya seorang perempuan kumal yang berprofesi sebagai pengemis dan seorang gadis pirang yang tampak berpendidikan tersebut? Apakah sebegitu rentanya mental dan jiwa manusia saat ini? sehingga hanya itu jalan yang bisa diambil untuk melanjutkan hidup ini? Saya yakin TIDAK. Tentu tidak hanya itu jalan yang ada, tapi itulah pilihan hidup. Setiap orang punya pilihannya sendiri. Sekali lagi, yang penting tanggung jawabnya. Siapa yang menabur, ia yang akan menuai. Pertanyaannya, Lalu bagaimana dengan anda? Pilihan hidup mana yang akan anda pilih?

14 PRINSIP HIDUP JAWA

14 PRINSIP HIDUP JAWA

Ngluruk Tanpa Bala, Menang Tanpa Ngasorake, Sekti Tanpa Aji-aji, Sughi Tanpa Bandha Berjuang tanpa perlu membawa massa, Menang tanpa merendahkan atau mempermalukan, berwibawa tanpa mengandalkan kekuasaan, kekuatan, kekayaan atau keturunan, Kaya tanpa didasari kebendaan. Datan Serik Lamun Ketaman, Datan Susah Lamun Kelangan Jangan gampang sakit hati manakala musibah menimpa diri, Jangan sedih manakala kehilangan sesuatu. Sepi ing Pamrih Rame ing Gawe, Banter tan Mbancangi. Dhuwur tan Ngungkuli Bekerja keras dan bersemangat tanpa pamrih, Cepat tanpa harus mendahului, Tinggi tanpa harus melebihi. Aja Gumunan. Aja Getunan, Aja Kagetan, Aja Aleman Jangan mudah terheran-heran, Jangan mudah menyesal, Jangan mudah terkejut-kejutm Jangan mudah kolokan tau manja. Aja Ketungkul Marang Kalungguhan, Kadonyan lan Kemareman Janganlah terobsesi oleh keinginan memperoleh kedudukan, kebendaan dan kepuasan duniawi. Aja Kuminter Mundak Keblinger. Aja Cidra Mundak Cilaka, Sing Was-was Jiwas Jangan Merasa Paling Pandai agar tidak salah arah. Jangan suka berbuat curang agar tidak celaka, Siapa yang ragu-ragu akan binasa atau merugi Aja Milik Barang Kang Melok, Aja Mangro Mundak Kendo Janganlah tergiur oleh hal-hal yang tampak mewah, cantik, indah. Jangan berpikir mendua agar tidak kendor niat dan kendor semangat. Aja Adigang, Adigung, Adiguna. Jangan sok kuasa, sok besar, sok sakti. Sing Sabar lan Ngalah Dadi Kekasih Allah. Yang sabar dan mengalah akan jadi kekasih Allah. Sing Prihatin Bakal Memimpin. Siapa berani hidup prihatin akan menjadi Satria, Pejuang dan Pemimpin. Sing Resik Uripe Bakal Mulya. Siapa yang bersih hidupnya akan hidup mulya. Urip iku Urup. Hidup itu nyata dan Hendaknya memberi manfaat. Sura Dira Jayaningrat, Lebur Dening Pangastuti Keberanian, Kekuatan, dan Kekuasaan dapat ditundukkan oleh Salam Sejahtera. Memayu Hayuning Bawana. Ambrasta dur Hangkara Manusia Hidup harus mengusahakan keselamatan, kebahagiaan dan kesejahteraan, serta memberantas sifat angkara murka dan tamak

Sumber: Radio Kepustakaan Pustaka Jowo Yogyakarta

.

30 Days to Success

A powerful personal growth tool is the 30-day trial. This is a concept I borrowed from the shareware industry, where you can download a trial version of a piece of software and try it out risk-free for 30 days before you’re required to buy the full version. It’s also a great way to develop new habits, and best of all, it’s brain-dead simple. Let’s say you want to start a new habit like an exercise program or quit a bad habit like sucking on cancer sticks. We all know that getting started and sticking with the new habit for a few weeks is the hard part. Once you’ve overcome inertia, it’s much easier to keep going. Yet we often psyche ourselves out of getting started by mentally thinking about the change as something permanent — before we’ve even begun. It seems too overwhelming to think about making a big change and sticking with it every day for the rest of your life when you’re still habituated to doing the opposite. The more you think about the change as something permanent, the more you stay put. But what if you thought about making the change only temporarily — say for 30 days — and then you’re free to go back to your old habits? That doesn’t seem so hard anymore. Exercise daily for just 30 days, then quit. Maintain a neatly organized desk for 30 days, then slack off. Read for an hour a day for 30 days, then go back to watching TV. Could you do it? It still requires a bit of discipline and commitment, but not nearly so much as making a permanent change. Any perceived deprivation is only temporary. You can count down the days to freedom. And for at least 30 days, you’ll gain some benefit. It’s not so bad. You can handle it. It’s only one month out of your life. Now if you actually complete a 30-day trial, what’s going to happen? First, you’ll go far enough to establish it as a habit, and it will be easier to maintain than it was to begin it. Secondly, you’ll break the addiction of your old habit during this time. Thirdly, you’ll have 30 days of success behind you, which will give you greater confidence that you can continue. And fourthly, you’ll gain 30 days worth of results, which will give you practical feedback on what you can expect if you continue, putting you in a better place to make informed long-term decisions. Therefore, once you hit the end of the 30-day trial, your ability to make the habit permanent is vastly increased. But even if you aren’t ready to make it permanent, you can opt to extend your trial period to 60 or 90 days. The longer you go with the trial period, the easier it will be to lock in the new habit for life. Another benefit of this approach is that you can use it to test new habits where you really aren’t sure if you’d even want to continue for life. Maybe you’d like to try a new diet, but you don’t know if you’d find it too restrictive. In that case, do a 30-day trial and then re-evaluate. There’s no shame in stopping if you know the new habit doesn’t suit you. It’s like trying a piece of shareware for 30 days and then uninstalling it if it doesn’t suit your needs. No harm, no foul. Here are some examples from my own life where I used 30-day trials to establish new habits: 1) In the Summer of 1993, I wanted to try being vegetarian. I had no interest in making this a lifelong change, but I’d read a lot about the health benefits of vegetarianism, so I committed to it for 30 days just for the experience. I was already exercising regularly, seemed in decent health, and was not overweight (6′0″, 155 lbs), but my typical college diet included a lot of In-N-Out burgers. Going lacto-ovo vegetarian for 30 days was a lot easier than I expected — I can’t say it was hard at all, and I never felt deprived. Within a week I noticed an increase in my energy and concentration, and I felt more clear-headed. At the end of the 30 days, it was a no-brainer to stick with it. This change looked a lot harder than it really was. 2) In January 1997, I decided to try going from vegetarian to vegan. While lacto-ovo vegetarians can eat eggs and dairy, vegans don’t eat anything that comes from an animal. I was developing an interest in going vegan for life, but I didn’t think I could do it. How could I give up veggie-cheese omelettes? The diet seemed too restrictive to me — even fanatically so. But I was intensely curious to know what it was actually like. So once again I did a 30-day trial. At the time I figured I’d make it through the trial, but I honestly didn’t expect to continue beyond that. Well, I lost seven pounds in the first week, mostly from going to the bathroom as all the accumulated dairy mucus was cleansed from my bowels (now I know why cows need four stomachs to properly digest this stuff). I felt lousy the first couple days but then my energy surged. I also felt more clear-headed than ever, as if a “fog of brain” had been lifted; it felt like my brain had gotten a CPU and a RAM upgrade. However, the biggest change I noticed was in my endurance. I was living in Marina del Rey at the time and used to run along the beach near the Santa Monica Pier, and I noticed I wasn’t as tired after my usual 3-mile runs, so I started increasing them to 5 miles, 10 miles, and then eventually a marathon a few years later. In Tae Kwon Do, the extra endurance really gave a boost to my sparring skills as well. The accumulated benefits were so great that the foods I was giving up just didn’t seem so appealing anymore. So once again it was a no-brainer to continue after the first 30 days, and I’m still vegan today. What I didn’t expect was that after so long on this diet, the old animal product foods I used to eat just don’t seem like food anymore, so there’s no feeling of deprivation. 3) Also in 1997, I decided I wanted to exercise every single day for a year. That was my 1997 New Year’s resolution. My criteria was that I would exercise aerobically at least 25 minutes every day, and I wouldn’t count Tae Kwon Do classes which I was taking 2-3 days per week. Coupled with my dietary changes, I wanted to push my fitness to a new level. I didn’t want to miss a single day, not even for sick days. But thinking about exercising 365 days in a row was daunting, so I mentally began with a 30-day trial. That wasn’t so bad. After a while every day that passed set a new record: 8 days in a row… 10 days… 15 days…. It became harder to quit. After 30 days in a row, how could I not do 31 and set a new personal record? And can you imagine giving up after 250 days? No way. After the initial month to establish the habit, the rest of the year took care of itself. I remember going to a seminar that year and getting home well after midnight. I had a cold and was really tired, yet I still went out running at 2am in the rain. Some people might call that foolish, but I was so determined to reach my goal that I wasn’t going to let fatigue or illness stop me. I succeeded and kept it up for the whole year without ever missing a day. In fact, I kept going for a few more weeks into 1998 before I finally opted to stop, which was a tough decision. I wanted to do this for one year, knowing it would become a powerful reference experience, and it certainly became such. 4) More diet stuff…. After being vegan for a number of years, I opted to try other variations of the vegan diet. I did 30-day trials both with the macrobiotic diet and with the raw foods diet. Those were interesting and gave me new insights, but I decided not to continue with either of them. I felt no different eating macrobiotically than I did otherwise. And in the case of the raw diet, while I did notice a significant energy boost, I found the diet too labor intensive — I was spending a lot of time preparing meals and shopping frequently. Sure you can just eat raw fruits and veggies, but to make interesting raw meals, there can be a lot of labor involved. If I had my own chef, I’d probably follow the raw diet though because I think the benefits would be worth it. I did a second trial of the raw diet for 45 days, but again my conclusion was the same. If I was ever diagnosed with a serious disease like cancer, I’d immediately switch to an all raw, living foods diet, since I believe it to be the absolute best diet for optimal health. I’ve never felt more energetic in my life than when I ate a raw diet. But I had a hard time making it practical for me. Even so, I managed to integrate some new macrobiotic foods and raw foods into my diet after these trials. There are two all-raw restaurants here in Vegas, and I’ve enjoyed eating at them because then someone else does all the labor. So these 30-day trials were still successful in that they produced new insights, although in both cases I intentionally declined to continue with the new habit. One of the reasons a full 30-day trial is so important with new diets is that the first week or two will often be spent detoxing and overcoming cravings, so it isn’t until the third or fourth week that you begin to get a clear picture. I feel that if you haven’t tried a diet for at least 30 days, you simply don’t understand it. Every diet feels different on the inside than it appears from the outside. This 30-day method seems to work best for daily habits. I’ve had no luck using it when trying to start a habit that only occurs 3-4 days per week. However, it can work well if you apply it daily for the first 30 days and then cut back thereafter. This is what I’d do when starting a new exercise program, for example. Daily habits are much easier to establish. Here are some other ideas for applying 30-day trials: * Give up TV. Tape all your favorite shows and save them until the end of the trial. My whole family did this once, and it was very enlightening. * Give up online forums, especially if you feel you’re becoming forum addicted. This will help break the addiction and give you a clearer sense of how participation actually benefits you (if at all). You can always catch up at the end of 30 days. * Shower/bathe/shave every day. I know YOU don’t need this one, so please pass it along to someone who does. * Meet someone new every day. Start up a conversation with a stranger. * Go out every evening. Go somewhere different each time, and do something fun — this will be a memorable month. * Spend 30 minutes cleaning up and organizing your home or office every day. That’s 15 hours total. * List something new to sell on ebay every day. Purge some of that clutter. * Ask someone new out on a date every day. Unless your success rate is below 3%, you’ll get at least one new date, maybe even meet your future spouse. * If you’re already in a relationship, give your partner a massage every day. Or offer to alternate who gives the massage each day, so that’s 15 massages each. * Give up cigarettes, soda, junk food, coffee, or other unhealthy addictions. * Become an early riser. * Write in your journal every day. * Call a different family member, friend, or business contact every day. * Make 25 sales calls every day to solicit new business. Professional speaker Mike Ferry did this five days a week for two years, even on days when he was giving seminars. He credits this habit with helping build his business to over $10 million in annual sales. If you make 1300 sales calls a year, you’re going to get some decent business no matter how bad your sales skills are. You can generalize this habit to any kind of marketing work, like building new links to your web site. * Write a new blog entry every day. * Read for an hour a day on a subject that interests you. * Meditate every day. * Learn a new vocabulary word every day. * Go for a long walk every day. Again, don’t think that you need to continue any of these habits beyond 30 days. Think of the benefits you’ll gain from those 30 days alone. You can re-assess after the trial period. You’re certain to grow just from the experience, even if it’s temporary. The power of this approach lies in its simplicity. Even though doing a certain activity every single day may be less efficient than following a more complicated schedule — weight training is a good example because adequate rest is a key component — you’ll often be more likely to stick with the daily habit. When you commit to doing something every single day without exception, you can’t rationalize or justify missing a day, nor can you promise to make it up later by reshuffling your schedule. Give trials a try. If you’re ready to commit to one right now, please feel free to post a comment and share your goal for the next 30 days. If there’s enough interest, then perhaps we can do a group postmortem around May 20th to see how it went for everyone. I’ll even do it with you. Mine will be to go running or biking for at least 25 minutes or do a minimum 60-minute hike in the mountains every day for 30 days. The weather here in Vegas has been great lately, so it’s a nice time for me to get back to exercising outdoors. by Steve Pavlina

Persistence

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. - Calvin Coolidge

Persistence is the fifth and final pillar of self-discipline.

What Is Persistence?

Persistence is the ability to maintain action regardless of your feelings. You press on even when you feel like quitting.

When you work on any big goal, your motivation will wax and wane like waves hitting the shore. Sometimes you’ll feel motivated; sometimes you won’t. But it’s not your motivation that will produce results — it’s your action. Persistence allows you to keep taking action even when you don’t feel motivated to do so, and therefore you keep accumulating results.

Persistence will ultimately provide its own motivation. If you simply keep taking action, you’ll eventually get results, and results can be very motivating. For example, you may become a lot more enthusiastic about dieting and exercising once you’ve lost those first 10 pounds and feel your clothes fitting more loosely.

When to Give Up

Should you always persist and never give up? Certainly not. Sometimes giving up is clearly the best option.

Have you ever heard of a company called Traf-O-Data? What about Microsoft? Both companies were started by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Traf-O-Data was the first company they started, back in 1972. You can read the story of Traf-O-Data here. Gates and Allen ran it for several years before throwing in the towel. They gave up. Of course they did a little better with Microsoft.

If they hadn’t given up on Traf-O-Data, then we wouldn’t have such rich collections of Microsoft and Bill Gates jokes today.

So how do you know when to press on vs. when to give up?

Is your plan still correct? If not, update the plan. Is your goal still correct? If not, update or abandon your goal. There’s no honor in clinging to a goal that no longer inspires you. Persistence is not stubbornness.

This was a particularly difficult lesson for me to learn. I had always believed one should never give up, that once you set a goal, you should hang on to the bitter end. The captain goes down with the ship and all that. If I ever failed to finish a project I started, I’d feel very guilty about it.

Eventually I figured out that this is just nonsense.

If you’re growing at all as a human being, then you’re going to be a different person each year than you were the previous year. And if you consciously pursue personal development, then the changes will often be dramatic and rapid. You can’t guarantee that the goals you set today will still be ones you’ll want to achieve a year from now.

My first business was Dexterity Software. I started it in 1994, fresh out of college. But after running it for more than a decade, I was ready for something new. I still run Dexterity on the side, but it’s not my full-time focus anymore. It takes me only about an hour or two a week to maintain it, partly because I designed it to be as automated as possible and to provide me with a passive income. It was successful to the extent I wanted it to be. I could have continued to grow it much larger, but I knew I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life making computer games. Creating my own game company was my dream at age 22, and after publishing a couple dozen games, I feel I accomplished that goal. 22-year old Steve is very satisfied. But today I have different dreams.

Did I give up on Dexterity? You could say that, but it would be more accurate to say that I was infected by a new vision of something that was far more important to me. Had I stubbornly persisted with Dexterity, this site would never have existed. I’d be working on a new game instead of my first book.

In order to make room for new goals, we have to delete or complete old ones. And sometimes new goals are so compelling and inspiring that there’s no time to complete old ones — they have to be abandoned half-finished. I’ve always found it uncomfortable to do this, but I know it’s necessary. The hard part is consciously deciding to delete an old project, knowing it will never be finished. I have a file full of game ideas and some prototypes for new games that will never see the light of day. Consciously deciding that those projects have to be abandoned was really hard for me. It took me a long time to come to grips with it. But it was necessary for my own growth to be able to do this.

I still had to solve the problem of setting goals that might become obsolete in a year due to my own personal growth. How did I solve this problem? I cheated. I figured out the only way I could set long-term goals that would stick would be if they were aligned with my own process of growth. The pursuit of personal growth has long been a stable constant for me, even though it’s paradoxically in flux at the same time. So instead of trying to set fixed goals as I did with my games business, I began setting broader more dynamic goals that were aligned with my own growth. This new business allows me to pursue my personal growth full-out and to share what I learn with others. So growth itself is the goal, both for myself and others. This creates a symbiotic relationship, whereby helping others feeds back into my own growth, which in turn generates new ideas for helping others. Anyone who’s been reading this site since last year has probably seen that effect in action.

The direct and conscious pursuit of personal growth is the only type of mission that would work for me. If I made it my mission to master real estate investing, for example, I’d probably become bored with it after a few years. Since I want to keep growing indefinitely, I have to maintain a certain level of challenge and keep raising the bar ever higher. I can’t let things get too dull and risk falling into a pattern of complacency.

The value of persistence comes not from stubbornly clinging to the past. It comes from a vision of the future that’s so compelling you would give almost anything to make it real. The vision I have of my future now is far greater than the one I had for Dexterity. To be able to help people grow and to solve their most difficult problems is far more inspiring to me than entertaining people. These values started oozing out of me as I ran Dexterity because I favored logic puzzle games that challenged people to think, often passing up the opportunity to publish games I felt would make money but which wouldn’t provide much real value to people.

Persistence of action comes from persistence of vision. When you’re super-clear about what you want in such a way that your vision doesn’t change much, you’ll be consistent in your actions. And that consistency of action will produce consistency of results.

Can you identify a part of your life where you’ve demonstrated a pattern of long-term persistence? I think if you can identify such an area, it may provide a clue to your mission — something you can work towards where passion and self-discipline function synergistically.