30-day challenge: Day 1

Hello!

Today is Day 1, the first day I'll be putting into practice an advice I found on a blog I follow - a 30-day challenge.

So, what is this 30-day challenge, and why am I doing it?

It is very simple: for 30 days in a row, I'll be changing some of my bad habits. For example, one of my main goals is to jog every morning, so that I stop being so lazy about physical exercise. Doing this everyday, for 30 days, will make sure that the habit stays with me long after the challenge is over.

What really made me do this was a question asked in the post I read: what do you want to be like in 5 years? I want to be so many things that I am not nowadays that I understood it was time to do something about it - and why not this challenge?

So, I made a list of activities I think that should be a part of my daily life - like jogging every morning, having cold (well, fresh, at least...) showers, religiously taking care of my lovely cat and working on a novel, on this blog and on my Squidoo lenses - or simply things I want to become better at, like taking photos.

Here's my Day 1 photo, presented to you as a trophy, a proof of my success so far:

Click here to read the post that inspired me.

yours,
millou

Yeah, it looks different... What do you think?

Hi, everyone! I changed my blog design and I'm hoping a feedback :P

I created a poll you can find on the top of the page. Please vote, I would love to know your opinion!

yours,

millou

Did you know...

... you're not supposed to use knives to eat eggs?

That's right. According to my research, the side of a fork will do just fine to cut soft, delicious eggs. I must confess I always act like a savage and intuitively cut the eggs with a knife, but that's me. I actually agree with etiquette makers, there's no need of a knife to cut something as soft as an omelet.

So, the next time you see this

in front of you, fear nothing: keep your back straight, the napkin on your lap and do NOT touch the knife ;)

yours,

millou

Entrepreneurship and success

I just saw a documentary about John Jacob Astor, presented as the richest man in America, back in his time. He grew up in Germany as a poor child, starving for a couple of times, and discovered his salesman abilities in London, where he began selling music instruments made by his brother. He then moved to North America and became the first multi-millionaire by trading furs and renting lands to New Yorkers.

This made me think a lot. I want to be rich. I'm not thinking of being the richest person of my time, but I want to have enough money to live comfortably and, sometimes, do something eccentric. I also want to leave a fortune and other kind of legacy to my children and grandchildren, so that I won't be forgotten (a really cool thing would be to build this kind of castle where I would have a gigantic library, with documents about me and the whole family).

So, I asked myself: what made Mr. Astor this rich?

Here are some of the answers I found:

1. Knowledge of what it's like to be poor

One thing I noticed was that many of the people who make a huge fortune during their lives were poor when they were children. Being also raised in a poor family, John Astor starved in his childhood and probably thought to himself "I have to do something about this. This is not how I want to live.". That's important, I think, but obviously not every poor person becomes a multi-millionaire, so there has to be something else...

2. Entrepreneurship

John Jacob Astor had an extraordinary ability to recognize profitable situations and he was always looking for more - maybe this is the most important combination when it comes to be successful. When his ship to the USA got stuck in the ice, he was the only passenger who didn't wait for the ice to melt: he crossed the ice and walked for about a week to reach his destination. Later in his life, he founded the first city in the Western coast of North America, called Astoria after him. Also, his sensibility for profitable deals becomes obvious when he buys land around New York, predicting the city's growth.

3. Rationality

If John Astor was sometimes seen as a cold, heartless man, more of a money-making machine than a human being, his rationality allowed him to carefully analyze every situation, learn from mistakes and create a huge, super-profitable empire. He is criticized for not having donated much money to charity, but the truth is that he was just too busy making profit.

I think this man is a great example of success for everyone. The recipe looks quite simple - dedication, analysis and lack of fear - but, even though I know it isn't, I'll be trying to put it into practice.


yours,
millou

"You don't have to be great to start something, but you do have to start to become great at it."

Loved it!

Always desire to learn something useful.

Sophocles

Learning new things is always a wonderful plan for summer holidays. Photography, cooking, ancient History, whatever you like. Begin today, make yourself a little bit richer. Why not?

How to make awesome chocolate chip cookies

Everybody loves cookies, and I obviously am no exception. I've told you before I'm starting to develop my cooking skills, and I'm proud to announce that, in less than three weeks, I turned this into this:

I used a recipe of a magazine my grandmother saved and adapted it a bit to my idea of chocolate chip cookies. Here it is (adapted):

Ingredients you'll need:

whole grain flour - 400g

brown sugar - 150g

butter - 150g

baking powder - 1 tea spoon

eggs (use only the egg white) - 3

chocolate chips - 90g

Directions:

Preheat the oven and, in a bowl, mix the butter, the sugar, the egg white, the flour and the baking powder. Use your hands to mix everything until it's brownish and a little wet. Add the chocolate chips and mix a little bit more, just to make sure they're evenly dispersed.

Now shape little balls of the size of a nut, press them to make them flat and place them in the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and voilà, you have a perfect chocolate chip cookie!