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A Second Time

I have never understood why someone would pick a title that would give away the entire story. Now the question is, do I reveal why I picked this title now, or wait until the very end. I really like the tldr;, but I have never liked writing them. So I guess you are going to have to hang around to find out about the title.

We will not always be able to go it alone. Sometimes we need a little push. The push can come in many forms. A friend who provides encouraging, or even discouraging, words can drive us to do things we would have never done without that push. Sometimes a hot in the arm comes form of a spouse or loved one who always smiles at our less than brilliant ideas, but helps mold those ideas into genius realities.

One thing I like to do is decide to mow the yard. I live in the middle of no where, on a hill. The yard is not easy to mow, and Missouri soil has enough rocks to keep a Rock Biter happy. If my yard gets any larger I’ll have to mow it with a tractor. Every time I start to mow, something breaks. It takes more than a day to get the job done. How is this an encouragement? Well with mowing like this you will always find something “better” to do. Unfortunately when I’m done the yard still needs mowed.

Am I really writing about mowing in the middle of the winter? I must really miss summer. I’m also leading you down a path that has nothing to to do with the title. I guess you are going to have to continue or turn back on this failure. Although I’d like you to sit back and guess what this is about? Maybe have a cup of coffee while you think. That is what I do when I don’t know what to write about. Maybe I will have one too and try to figure out what this title is all about.

Wow, that coffee is ferocious. I may have burnt my lip. I guess I’ll get on with it. Although you can finish your cup and this horror will still be here when you get back.

What were we talking about? Oh, yeah, encouragement. The top half of this post, as well as the mowing, is called the procrastination method, very scientific. You can get a lot done when you are procrastinating something else. Often procrastination just isn’t enough to force your hand. This is where a friendly wager can make all the difference in the world.

I would like to blog frequently. I really want to get better at writing, and I have so many things in my head to share with the world, weather they like it or not. This is where a plan comes together. Sometimes only friendly competition will give you the momentum you need.

Last week I started a “pact” with Craig. We decided that we would write a blog post every week and have it posted by Sunday at 11:59 pm. What a great way to start your week? How can we make Monday seem even more exciting? I know, let’s force the stress to be the day before. Who likes spending time with the family, anyway?

We couldn’t stop there. A little hand shake and encouraging just wasn’t going to cut it with this pact. We needed a little extra motivation. I hope what I’m about to say isn’t against gambling laws in my state.

Each week we will put $1 into a pot. If one of us writes a post, and the other doesn’t, then the writer gets all the money in the pot. Impressive, I know. Imagine all the things I can buy for $1.

How long can this motivation last? This is only the second post (not why I chose the title, but not bad). That is why we have a pot. Each post becomes worth more and more, or less and less if you take the quality of this post into account. This one is worth $2 to me. I guess $4 if you consider the loss of $2 that I would have to pay Craig if I chose to forgo this week. With each post increasing the risk/reward we are far more likely to keep going. At least I get to creat more work for the search spiders? How about you joining our friendly little “pact?”

Ok, so you want to know about the title? It really is not that exciting. I hate to disappoint you, but the title is because we’ve done this before. A few years back we worked on the same team, and started this with the whole team. Rather, we talked about it. This time it is for real. Ok, now go back and read that last sentence like a movie trailer announcer for Sharknado.

The Past

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