Larsen....Age 3
I’ve got to be honest. I just don’t get the Farmville thing. Yeah, I know, if I’d ever actually played the game I’d get all the fuss. But frankly, the idea of spending hours and hours planting and harvesting ‘virtual seeds’ versus spending hours and hours of planting and harvesting real seeds that produce real results just seems like a no-brainer to me. But hey, we’re all cut from a different cloth I guess, right?
Notwithstanding, after having watched this Farmville phenomenon unfold, I decided to come up with my own list of 25 things I’d rather be doing than experiencing the utter thrill of watching digital corn and lettuce grow. So without further ado, here goes:
25 Things A Heck of A Lot Better Than Farmville
1. Reading a book to my 3 year old Larsen
2. Writing a killer blog post where the keyboard can’t even keep up with the thoughts in my head.
3. Listening to an old Jim Rohn CD on the power of personal development.
4. Analyzing one paragraph of Hugo’s Les Miserables (Yep, one paragraph of that epic novel can keep a mind busy for days)
5. Teaching a youth group at church and watching them get fired up over Gospel principles.
6. Swinging on the porch with my wife, discussing the day’s events in quiet tranquility.
7. Watching College Football…..any game.
8. Calling someone in my profession out of the blue just to see if I might be able to give them a little boost.
9. Answering an enthusiastic email from someone daring to think BIG.
10. Cheering on fireworks with kids on my lap while at the beach.
11. 60 minutes on the elliptical while watching Jason Bourne kick butt…..for the 77th time.
12. Listening to my 9 year old daughter Danielle tell me about the latest book she’s reading.
13. Letting go mentally in the sauna and just ‘allowing’ the inspiration to flow freely.
14. Rocking my 8 week old ‘Pink’ (that’s what we call her, but her name is Casey) to sleep when ‘Mommy’ can’t seem to make it happen.
15. Getting ‘that one thing’ done that’s been on my list for 3 weeks and lingering in the back of my mind.
16. Going for a 1am swim in the pool….with no one but me and the stars above invited to the party.
17. Dreaming Big…..Believing Bigger….and then Busting Tail to make it happen…without excuses or looking back.
18. Taking a quick trip to the Dairy Freeze….a double heath blizzard with chocolate ice cream will be just fine thank you 
19. Writing a post with a keyword phrase in mind and then seeing it rank on the first page of Google within 10 minutes….Dang that’s sweet!
20. Contemplating Wayne Dyer’s ‘The Power of Intention’….a tremendous read/book on CD
21. Taking my 6 year old son Joseph with me to work and discussing with him his highs, his lows, and all that he dreams to be.
22. Re-reading a blog post or article that I’ve since forgotten about and thinking, ‘Wow, I wrote that? Sweet.’
23. Thinking back to my two years spent in Chile…..Que experiencia maravillosa…
24. Teaching something to a group of people and knowing that what you are saying isn’t coming from you at all, but rather something much greater with an intensely higher purpose.
25. Smiling for the sake of smiling. Laughing for the sake of laughing. And knowing everything is working out exactly as it should be……
What would be on your list? Don’t be shy, I’d love to hear ‘em.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha, great article Marcus.
Most of us have gotten stuck on one of these internet games. Mine was Maffia Wars.
Me and my friends use to play.
Of course once I quit (and this is harder than quitting smoking!) I noticed how much time I had for other stuff.
Like you say Marcus, planting seeds that will result in a real life crop is worth a lot more than the digital ones.
.-= Daniel M. Wood´s last blog ..The 5 Easy Steps of Cold Calling =-.
Thanks Daniel, and glad to hear you’re in remission
….Actually, Mafia Wars was my second choice for the blog title, but I just couldn’t resist all those digital cows……but you’re right man, the time one has once they let go of all their mind-numbing activities is unbelievable.
haha, yeah digital cows and crops did work very well in the article
The difference has been the start of my blog to put it plainly, I would never have time to run it if I hadn’t quit all these time wasting activities.
So a great tip to anyone to stop
.-= Daniel M. Wood´s last blog ..The 5 Easy Steps of Cold Calling =-.
Good point D’. I’ve followed your blog since the beginning and I’ve literally watched, or should I say ‘read’, your tremendous personal growth. I’ve seen a small flame turn into a full-blown fire and that is plain awesome my friend, and your actions reflect every second of your positive and productive life. I’m sure the idea of spending that much time on such an activity today is utterly preposterous, as you are now completely ‘in the zone’ as they would say. Well done my friend, well done.
It is true that this study of personal development, success, motivation and sales techniques has taught me a lot.
I have read in the past 6 months more books about these subjects than in the rest of my life. I have watched more DVDs and been at more seminars as well.
The difference this has made is incredible.
I produce about twice as much at work but I work 2 hours less a day and I have the time to run my blog whilst in the process of building it into a business and starting 2 other projects with friends and family.
All this without working much more or harder than before.
It is incredible how much you can learn by a study of oneself and by reading about time management and goal setting.
.-= Daniel M. Wood´s last blog ..The 5 Easy Steps of Cold Calling =-.
LOVE IT!!! Thank you for sharing!!! (I’m going to follow your lead and do the same on my blog!)
*Marc – Seriously let’s coordinate a meetup … I want you to be a part of my new anabolic team of people in my life!!!
.-= Kerilyn ´s last blog ..the manifesto of encouragement =-.
Awesome KL….let’s get together. I’m in Northern Va all the time. BTW, I’m thrilled for the changes you’re making in your life.
Great post, Marcus. This is very inspiring and insightful. I’ll be away for a while (getting married, honeymooning, etc), but I will probably write my own version in a few weeks and link back here.
.-= Eric Pratum´s last blog ..Are you obligated to disrupt someone else’s thinking =-.
Dang Pratum, congrats bro, happy for you…..soak it all in bro….as the saying goes:
‘Wherever you are, be there’
Hey Marcus, great blog. Things I would add:
-Read the Sales Lion blog (seriously!)
-Plan ahead for future work
-Enjoy a nice bike ride or run
-Play MafiaWars (just kidding)
-Give an old friend who I haven’t seen in a while a call
You should blog sobre tu experienia en Chile, seria interesante! Estudie en Ecuador cuando estaba en la U. Hago youth ministry en mi iglesia tambien, estoy de acuerdo con tu numero 5
.
Me alegro Kevin!! Love your list man….and I’m very humbled to be on it too!
Stick around, I’m sure I’ll be writing more about Chile en el futoro