Narrowing the Distance

Things can be both bad, and getting better

February 7, 2019 by Jason C

A quick quiz from the book Factfulness by Hans Roling…

In the last 20 years, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty worldwide has…?
A. Almost doubled
B. Remained more or less the same
C. Almost halved
How many of the world’s 1-year-old children today have been vaccinated against some disease?
A. 80%
B. 50%
C. 20%
How did the number of deaths per year from natural disasters change over the last hundred years?
A. More than doubled
B. Remained more or less the same
C. Decreased to less than half

If you’re like most, you answered 1.) A 2.) B or C and 3.) A.

And if you’re like most, you’d be wrong.

The day the sky exploded

January 27, 2019 by Jason G

When I share that I grew up in Florida, people often asked if I could see the space shuttle launches from my house. Having lived in Titusville (a quaint town across the river from the Kennedy Space Center) I had a front-row seat to an immersive experience that one could only truly understand if you were there. You could feel the rumble of the rocket engines deep in your chest, the delayed sounds of the ignited fuel that took it’s sweet time to arrive in your ears moments after the rocket had… (read the full article here)

Stop surviving and start thriving

January 19, 2019 by Jason G

“When your output exceeds your input, then your upkeep will be your downfall”. These are wise words that I heard many times early on in my career from a wise mentor that genuinely cared about my long-term success. The point is that we must have a way of refueling ourselves so that we are able to continue the journey of achieving results. I have found that those in leadership positions or anyone in healthcare, education, and service industries are the worst at adhering to this principle. The enormity of the work, long task lists, meetings upon meetings, and preparation for tomorrow, next week, and next year can cause you to be so busy that you may not be aware that you are not performing at your best. Through your acceptance of things as they are, you are ultimately choosing to accept that surviving is your way of life instead of thriving. Here are three ideas to make the shift this year.

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3 Apps to Help You Be Better (Updated!)

January 11, 2019 by Jason C

I’m a big fan of technology, especially when it makes my life easier. Sometimes it’s difficult to sort through all the options when searching for a specific app or extension however. For example, a quick search for “journal app” gives me pages of results. And by the time I finish reading through a handful of them I usually just decide to do without.

However, if you’re wanting to be better at something, whether that’s exercising regularly, eating better, or learning a language, there’s no doubt an app or extension that can help. Here’s a list of 3 apps (updated for 2019) I’ve found useful in helping me improve my chances of reaching a goal, or just being a better person in general.

How to NOT build wealth early with real estate.

December 12, 2018 by Jason C

This is not your typical real estate investing post. I’m 37 years old and have owned 4 (primary residence) homes over the last 12 years. One thing I can tell you from experience is that it’s not always the best strategy if you are trying to build wealth.

Let me explain…

3 Tips For Starting a Consulting Business on the Side

November 17, 2018 by Jason C

I recently had a call from an acquaintance I met awhile back asking for some guidance on how to start a consulting business on the side. She knew I spent several years as a consultant and we both had previous experience in the eLearning world so I was a logical person to reach out to.

Instead of going straight into the tips however, I started with a warning, which is what I feel I need to do here… Consulting isn’t for everyone for many reasons. Instead of having one boss, you’ll have many. And instead of just focusing on the primary skill set you are offering, you’re also going to have to handle marketing, accounting and sales, which will take up a good percentage of your time. Lastly, I quickly learned that there’s a cap on what you can earn as a consultant. It requires you to spend time working for a client and you are typically paid by the hour or job. There are only so many hours in the day and so many days in the year. If you already have a full time job, you will find that consulting quickly eats into any free time you once had. If you want to make more money you either increase your prices (which there is a limit on for any market) or work more hours (which has its own time constraints that I just listed).

Now that that’s all out of the way, here are the 3 tips I suggest to anyone wanting to start a consulting business on the side.

Life Plan – Design Your Optimal Life

January 13, 2018 by Jason C

There’s a reason this blog is called Narrowing the Distance. We all want more out of life, but aside from something unusual happening like winning the lottery, most progress is made over time. So your goal should be to continually narrow the distance from where you are to where you want to be in all areas of your life.

I’ve found the best way to do this is by creating a life plan. And there’s no better time than the beginning of a new year to create one. Here’s your guide to getting started…

Progress Review – How You Doin?

December 29, 2017 by Jason C

I’m a big fan of setting goals and continuous improvement, but unfortunately life often gets in the way of making progress. And without progress, morale often declines, and you end up another year older without making any of the changes you promised yourself you’d make.

Cheer up, things probably aren’t as bad as you think. A year is a long time, and chances are you’ve made quite a bit of progress, you just haven’t taken the time to do a review. If taking time to do a progress review is a foreign concept, this post is for you.

Lots of areas need improvment

December 13, 2017 by Jason C

As the title suggests, I’ve found lots of areas in my life that could use improving. Maybe you’ve thought about this at some point too. I am employed, not overweight, and I try to be a good husband and father, but nobody’s perfect. And that’s not a bad thing. It gives all of us something to work towards.

Unfortunately, there are lots of areas (for me anyway) that could use improvement, and trying to focus on all of them at once is like trying to keep plates spinning in the air – I can keep it up for a while, but without constant attention, a few are bound to come crashing down.

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