Early Bird gets the Worm

An old ancient proverb: "The Early Bird Gets The Wor..." Hey where is the M?

The M could stand for what is missing in your life because you aren't willing to make the needed sacrifice for it. (This sounds like my YES/NO post. Go Check it out!) That could mean money, time, happiness, etc.

Another proverbish like thing my father always told me was that the fisherman that had his hook in the water earliest and longest caught the fish. Now if you have ever been fishing you know that this is true and sometimes untrue. It depends on where you are fishing, what bait you are using and your skill at hooking the fish and reeling it in.

My goal in writing this blog post is not to convince you that you should get up earlier, but if that is what happens because of it I will count that as a win for me. The truth is that people that get up earlier usually have a lot more accomplished then those of us that sleep in by the end of the day. I mean think about it. When I sleep in I feel groggy through out the day and then at night the only good thing I can think of doing is watching Netflix or surfing the internet.

This week I woke up early and I started thinking about fun art projects I wanted to do. So instead of sleeping in I got up and wrote down a bunch of thoughts and then today I decided to execute one of them. It was this typography piece that appears above.

At this point I could take this blog post in so many different directions. For example:

I could talk about how people just need to start doing what they want to do and stop waiting for the right amount of money, a better job, more time, the moon to line up just right. Just go do it!

I could talk about what kind of bait you should use to catch the fish you want to catch, but then again that is up to you. You should be smart and find the bait that you like to use and that catches you enough fishies.

I could talk about the best fishing spots, like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, your local Cafe, or Tumblr! This also might come down to you trying it out and finding out which works better for you.

And then I could talk to you about waking up early and getting worms! The truth is I just dare you to try it a couple of times. Purposefully wake up early and do the things you need to do and then the next day sleep in and wake up when ever you want to and write down what you have accomplished on both days and tell me which is more productive for you.

If you decide to take my challenge shoot me an email and tell me your findings. (guapolsen@gmail.com)

I think there is another proverb out there that says if you Hoot with the Owls you won't be Flying with the Eagles.

No one told me it was Wednesday!

I can't blame this post being late on anyone, but I can say I was a little disappointed to not receive an email asking about my missing post yesterday. I will be posting something tomorrow though to try to stay on track and you get this post today. Yeah!

I don't believe in excuses. I believe that people have priorities and they get done what they feel like they must get done. If they really thought something else was more important they would do it. Would you agree?

You don't have to agree with me, but hear me out:
I think artists are a peculiar people. The ones that are really dedicated and can get by on caffeine will do all nighters because they have determined that making art and reaching a deadline is more important than sleep.

Other artists (Like myself) are not able to pull all nighters. Sleep is just more important to us than art making at midnight so what does that mean? It means if we want to reach those same deadlines we have to say "NO" to other things before that deadline so that we aren't forced to do all nighters.

The word "No" is just as powerful as the word "Yes". In fact it can be even more empowering. When we say NO to something it allows us the opportunity to say Yes to other things. Take a minute and think about your day. What are you saying No to and what are you saying Yes to?

Doing this exercise myself looks like this:

This morning I decided to say "NO" to waking up when my alarm went off. What that means is that I was saying "Yes" to being late to work. I was saying "Yes" to being more stressed at work. I was saying "Yes" to eating out since my lunch wasn't prepared. But It also meant I got to say "Yes" to an extra half an hour in my warm bed.

Hopefully tomorrow I can say "Yes" to my alarm clock so that I can say "Yes" to a better lunch than a hamburger off the dollar menu. So that I can say "Yes" to more money since I will be at work longer. I will also get to say "Yes" to less stress too!

Do you see how this works?

This principle works with your time, with your money, with everything!

Something that I have recently been able to say Yes to was taking an art class with J. Kirk Richards. He has been a wonderful mentor and boss for me this past year and when he offered to let me take his class with him this week I just knew that was what I was going to do.

To iterate I would like to tell you all the things I said No to, so that I could say Yes to this class. Every year for the last couple of years I have gone with a really good friend of mine to his parents house up in North Idaho. It is right on the edge of a beautiful lake. His parents have a boat, three wheelers, and not to mention wonderful company!
Here are some pictures of it!

This year I said No to that so that I could say Yes to learning how to paint better.
My wife also said No to this so we could say Yes to another week of work and the pay check that would come from that.

Here is a progress shot of what I have been working on in the painting class. It is a master copy of one of my favorite artists, James Christiansen.

Stay Tuned to my blog. I will be posting the finished product in about a week or so.

Also thank you for reading my blog. I realize that at this point most of my readers are friends on face book. I hope to share my journey as a maturing artist with some insights for everyday life. If you get something out of a post share it with a friend. Thanks.

Also if you have feedback for me please feel free to email me at guapolsen@gmail.com

Take Care